The Tigard City Council will select a new mayor Oct. 7 following the resignation of Heidi Lueb, who stepped down as mayor days before an investigation into her workplace conduct was released earlier this month.
The council will choose between two of its own members – Councilors Jeanette Shaw and Yi-Kang Hu – to become the next head of the city. Both expressed their interest in the position at a Tuesday meeting.
Residents can submit questions for the two candidates until Sept. 30 by emailing the City Manager’s Office at CMO_admin@tigard-or.gov, calling 503-718-2482 or dropping off written questions at a customer service counter at Tigard City Hall. The council will pick 10 questions to ask the candidates during the Oct. 7 meeting before voting which candidate to select.
Whoever is named mayor will serve for the remainder of Lueb’s term, which runs through the end of 2026. Shaw was first elected to the council in 2020, while Hu was elected in 2022.
The city’s charter prevents holding a special election for the position because there would be less than a year left on Lueb’s term by the time a vote could occur. Tigard voters will elect a new mayor to a four-year term in November 2026.
Lueb announced her resignation Sept. 9 in a statement posted to her website and on social media, saying that an investigation had been conducted into her conduct following complaints. She attributed her decision to step down to strained relationships and tension between herself, other members of the city council and city staff.
The investigation, conducted by Northwest Workplace Investigations, found that Lueb “bad mouthed” city councilors and staff and created an unprofessional work environment. It ultimately concluded that she violated the city’s “respectful workplace” policy.
The report described a handful of instances in which staff members alleged that Lueb bullied or lashed out against them or other employees. One employee alleged that Lueb called one of the councilors “a terrible person” and an expletive. The person told investigators that they didn’t file a complaint because of the mayor’s position, the report said. That employee said some people left the city because of the mayor’s behavior.
Lueb pushed back against the investigation’s findings in the statement announcing her resignation, claiming that the city and investigator had not been in “search of truth and fairness” but had approached the investigation with “the assumption of guilt and a goal of punishment.”
Council President Maureen Wolf has been serving as mayor pro tem since Lueb’s resignation, but she is not seeking to be appointed to serve out Lueb’s term.