Nafisa Fai and Pam Treece, the two candidates for Washington County chair, disagree on how to fix the county's housing shortage.
Their stances were first reported by Ray Pitz in a Valley Times Q&A published Thursday, Oct. 1. Ballots for the Nov. 3 runoff mail Wednesday, Oct. 14.
The at-large chair leads the five-member Board of County Commissioners, which oversees a $2 billion budget and sets policy for Tigard, Tualatin, Durham and the rest of Oregon's second most populous county. The position pays $145,840 a year.
Housing: supply vs. partnerships
Fai, the District 1 commissioner, said she would push to increase housing supply, modernize regulations she described as slowing production, maximize the county's Moving to Work authority and expand public-private partnerships. Moving to Work (MTW) is a federal program that gives housing authorities flexibility to tailor federal dollars to local needs.
"I believe no one should have to use the streets as a waiting room for housing," Fai said in the Q&A.
Treece, the District 2 commissioner, said she would partner with affordable housing providers to increase diverse housing options and support new shelters and transitional housing with good-neighbor agreements. She cited her role in championing the Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment (CATT), a county program that pairs on-site housing with medical services for people struggling with behavioral health issues.
Immigration: both back sanctuary law, differ on action
Both candidates said they would uphold Oregon's sanctuary law and protect immigrant communities, but they described different records.
Fai said that when federal immigration enforcement affected Washington County, she called for a state of emergency, secured funding for affected families and unlocked $4 million to prevent housing instability. The $4 million figure comes from Fai's Q&A response and could not be independently verified from public records available for this story.
Treece said hundreds of Washington County residents had been taken from local streets without warning or due process. She said she opposes what she called excessive federal overreach and would continue protecting immigrant communities as chair.
The race so far
Fai led the May 2026 primary with 39.1% of the vote to Treece's 33.1%. Neither reached a majority, sending both to the Nov. 3 runoff.
The seat opened after Chair Kathryn Harrington chose not to seek reelection and resigned. Her last day was Friday, Oct. 2. The Oregonian reported that Harrington's departure followed backlash over her conduct toward Fai. Treece said she would return a $10,000 campaign contribution from Harrington. She removed Harrington's endorsement from her campaign website after a Sept. 15 incident.
Fai won her District 1 seat in 2020, becoming the first Black and first Muslim commissioner elected to the board. Treece has served as a commissioner since 2018 and previously worked as executive director of the West Side Economic Alliance and as a public school teacher.
Ballots mail Oct. 14. Washington County voters can return them by mail or at any official drop site through election day, Nov. 3.
