BS BULLETIN:
- Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington was caught on camera giving fellow Commissioner Nafisa Fai the middle finger during a public work session Tuesday.
- Another commissioner called the behavior unacceptable, withdrew Harrington’s endorsement and said she would return Harrington’s campaign contribution.
- Harrington has apologized, admitting her reaction was “very plainly not appropriate.”
Nothing livens up a local government meeting quite like the chairwoman flipping off one of her fellow commissioners.
Washington County, Oregon, Chair Kathryn Harrington was caught doing exactly that Tuesday morning during a publicly broadcast Board of Commissioners work session.
And the camera caught the whole thing.
The trouble began during a discussion when Harrington interrupted the meeting and asked Commissioner Nafisa Fai to stop blocking her view of Commissioner Jason Snider.
“Could you stop getting in the way of my sight line?” Harrington asked.
Fai appeared to adjust her chair.
Twice.
Apparently that wasn’t enough.
Video shows Harrington pushing her chair backward, slamming her hands onto the table and raising her middle finger toward Fai while the other commissioners appeared to be looking elsewhere.
The meeting continued until Fai stopped things herself.
“Could you pause for a second? Did you see the finger?” Fai asked.
“Did anybody see that?”
Nobody answered.
Snider eventually offered perhaps the most practical solution of the meeting: “Maybe I can help by moving.”
The gesture didn’t stay inside the meeting room for long. Commissioner Pam Treece said she was “shocked and disappointed” after reviewing the livestream and demanded an apology. “This behavior cannot stand,” Treece said.
Treece and Fai are opponents in the race for Washington County chair.
Treece nevertheless defended her rival, saying political disagreements should never prevent elected officials from treating one another respectfully.
She also announced she would return a recent campaign contribution from Harrington and remove Harrington’s endorsement from her campaign website.
Fai issued her own statement, saying elected officials should treat people with “respect and dignity.”
“Frankly, behavior like this is the equivalent of flipping off the people we are elected to serve,” she said.
By Tuesday afternoon, Harrington had apologized.
“I formally and personally apologize to Commissioner Nafisa Fai, my fellow district commissioner board members, to our Washington County workforce and the community for my unprofessional response to Commissioner Fai in our work session meeting this morning,” Harrington said.
“My reaction was very plainly not appropriate in any instance. I should not have behaved in such a hurtful manner.”
Harrington’s current term expires in December, according to Washington County records.
And thanks to the county’s publicly streamed meetings, there won’t be much debate about what happened Tuesday.
Everybody saw the finger.
MY QUICK TAKE:
There are boring local government meetings.
And then there are local government meetings where somebody asks: “Did anybody see the finger?”
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- New York Post — Oregon county chair flips off fellow commissioner during public meeting
- KGW — Washington County chair apologizes for flipping commissioner the middle finger
- KOIN — “This cannot stand”: Washington County chair flips off commissioner
- Washington County — Board of County Commissioners
- Washington County — County officials
