Both candidates promise affordability and safety. The difference is the route: one leans on tax restraint and business growth, the other on housing and treatment investment funded partly by larger contributions from data centers. Ask which services each would protect first.
Draft; human review pending.
Key
Said
A campaign statement, in our summary or their words.
Voted
A recorded Council roll call.
— Not found
Not in the sources we reviewed. A research gap, not a position.
County commissioner; economic-development background
Puts jobs, housing construction and restraint on new taxes at the center of affordability policy.
Wants the county to speed up housing building while holding off new resident taxes.
Supports real public-safety investment, including safe schools, parks and trails, and protection from ICE.
Would put the brakes on taxing residents and keep county operations stable and accountable.
Wants transportation infrastructure that reduces traffic congestion.
Summaries are our one-line readings of what each candidate says. Issue lines are short forms of the positions in each brief, AI-drafted and awaiting human review; “—” means not found in the sources we reviewed.
Four votes that split this Council
No candidate in this race sits on Council today.
— Not foundNo featured votes are selected for this race yet.
Candidate briefs, A–Z
County Chair candidate · Washington County · November 3, 2026
Nafisa Fai
County commissioner with public-health and community-building experience.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Washington County voters’ pamphlet
Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. Skips the heading “A Leader Who Works for You-Not for the Status Quo”.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our words
Connects affordability and safety with housing, treatment and corporate contributions.
Support housing, eviction prevention and addiction treatment.
Make data centers contribute more fairly.
Protect farmland and invest in transportation and jobs.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Housing investment
Corporate contribution
Larger data-center contributions, updated fees and possible levies would fund the services she wants protected; her materials name the tools but not the amounts, and a local option levy needs voter approval.
Wants more affordable homes and paths to ownership: public land turned into community-driven housing, faster permitting for affordable development and down-payment support.
How
Said: Transform public land into community-driven housing, fast-track permitting for affordable development, invest in down-payment support for first-time buyers, expand workforce housing and fund energy-efficiency and utility assistance.
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Crisis care, jail and deflection
Crisis response teams
What
Wants the county to fund community safety teams of mental-health professionals, medics and peer responders for calls she says are better handled by them than by police, so law enforcement can focus on serious crime.
How
Said: County investment in community safety teams of trained mental-health professionals, medics and peer responders who de-escalate and connect people to care.
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Taxes and the budget gap
Explore fees and levies
What
To close the county’s budget gap, would explore new revenue without overburdening taxpayers, including updated service fees and possible local option levies for public safety and libraries, while protecting funding for housing, transit and health care.
How
Said: Update service fees, consider local option levies for public safety and libraries, protect essential-service funding and strengthen oversight and public access to budget information.
Measured by
Said: Names the county’s latest $20.5 million budget gap as the shortfall to close; no revenue figure per tool is given.
Roads, bridges and air
Buses, roads, climate plan
What
Wants safer roads and sidewalks, fixed bottlenecks and more bus routes, plus a countywide Climate Action Task Force, clean-energy investment and a larger tree canopy.
How
Said: Establish a countywide Climate Action Task Force, invest in clean energy and tree canopy, expand bus routes and fix bottlenecks and sidewalks.
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Nafisa Fai is on record on 6. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
On record
Pause new data-center permits under the county's own authority until their impacts are studied?
Said: Announced on August 25, 2026 a proposal to pause new data-center and AI-facility permits under county and Clean Water Services authority, saying the county should understand the complete picture before approving more.
End the enterprise-zone property-tax exemptions for Hillsboro data centers, which the county assessor co-authorizes?
Said: Says as chair she will make data centers pay their fair share and safeguard tax dollars; whether the enterprise-zone exemptions should end is unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Double the county vehicle registration fee, from $30 to $60 a year by 2031, to pay for roads?
Said: Cast the only no vote on August 25, 2026 against Ordinance 917, which phases the county fee from $30 to $60 a year by 2031; it passed 3–1.
Close the county's recurring General Fund gap with new fees or levies rather than cuts alone?
Said: Would explore new revenue without overburdening taxpayers, including updated service fees and local option levies for public safety and libraries, to close a gap she puts at $20.5 million, while protecting housing, transit and health care.
Keep declaring emergencies and spending county reserves to help families hit by federal immigration enforcement?
Said: Moved and voted for the November 4, 2025 emergency declaration and $200,000 in contingency aid, telling the Board the amounts are not enough and she will keep pushing for additional measures.
Bring farmland north of Hillsboro into the urban growth boundary for industry, as Senate Bill 1586 proposed?
Said: Says the county is not yet striking the right balance; would focus development inside existing urban growth boundaries, build on industrial land already zoned and push for a statewide industrial-land inventory. SB 1586 is unnamed.
What specific data-center tax or fee changes would you propose, and what revenue would they produce?
Sources (3)
Washington County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 4Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Fai · platform (home page)Candidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Fai · prioritiesCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
County Chair candidate · Washington County · November 3, 2026
Pam Treece
County commissioner with economic-development, teaching and small-business experience.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Washington County voters’ pamphlet
Said: As your Chair, in this time of national insecurity, I will guarantee county operations are stable, accountable, effective, and equitable so we can provide the services we all deserve and too many desperately need.
Pamphlet p. 4
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. Skips the salutation “Dear Neighbors,”.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our words
Puts jobs, housing construction and restraint on new taxes at the center of affordability policy.
Support business growth and housing production.
Invest in public safety and congestion reduction.
Protect public health and residents facing federal immigration enforcement.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Economic growth
Tax restraint
Holding off new taxes while adding housing and public-safety investment draws on the same county budget; her materials do not say which services would give way if revenue falls short.
Wants the county to hit the gas on building housing while putting the brakes on taxing residents.
How
Said: Partnerships with local affordable-housing providers and preservation of existing affordable homes; cites The Opal, a church–County–developer collaboration she says produced over 50 affordable residences for people 55 and older.
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Crisis care, jail and deflection
Fund public safety
What
Wants real investment in public safety, naming safe schools, parks and trails, and wants the county to protect residents from ICE.
How
Said: Stable funding for first responders with accountability and transparency, and closer coordination between the county’s mental-health team and public-safety providers, including the Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment.
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Taxes and the budget gap
Brakes on resident taxes
What
Would put the brakes on taxing residents and keep county operations stable, accountable and effective; no cuts or fee changes are named.
How
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Roads, bridges and air
Cut traffic congestion
What
Wants transportation infrastructure investment aimed at reducing traffic congestion.
How
— Not found in the reviewed sources
Measured by
— Not found in the reviewed sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Pam Treece is on record on 5, with 1 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could find
End the enterprise-zone property-tax exemptions for Hillsboro data centers, which the county assessor co-authorizes?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
On record
Pause new data-center permits under the county's own authority until their impacts are studied?
Said: Told KGW she is not in favor of any more data centers in the county if that can be avoided, while noting the commission's land-use reach is unincorporated land and the major projects sit in Hillsboro.
Double the county vehicle registration fee, from $30 to $60 a year by 2031, to pay for roads?
Said: Voted August 25, 2026 for Ordinance 917, which phases the county fee from $30 to $60 a year by 2031 for road projects, after declaring the fee would also apply to her own vehicles; it passed 3–1.
Close the county's recurring General Fund gap with new fees or levies rather than cuts alone?
Said: Says new taxes would be a last resort given economic strain, to be weighed against critical services that may have to be cut; puts past General Fund cuts at $98 million and would lean on economic development.
Keep declaring emergencies and spending county reserves to help families hit by federal immigration enforcement?
Said: Voted for the November 4, 2025 declaration and $200,000 in aid; the minutes record that she commented on ICE actions in the county and thanked commissioners for their efforts.
Bring farmland north of Hillsboro into the urban growth boundary for industry, as Senate Bill 1586 proposed?
Said: Says county land is precious and attracting high-paying jobs while protecting farms and forests will take careful planning with Metro and the cities, which set the boundary; takes no position on SB 1586's acreage.
Which services take priority under a constrained budget, and what would you defer?
Sources (2)
Washington County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 4Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Treece · prioritiesCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
