The Tigard City Council will select between two of its own on Oct. 7 to serve as the city’s next mayor. The need for a new mayor arose due to the resignation of Mayor Heidi Lueb earlier this month after an investigation found she had engaged in disrespectful workplace conduct.

During a Tuesday night discussion of the process to replace Lueb, City Councilors Jeanette Shaw and Yi-Kang Hu put their names forth for consideration. The remaining members of council, including Council President Maureen Wolf — who has served as mayor pro tem since Lueb’s resignation — said they were not interested in the mayor’s role.

Shaw was first elected to the council in 2020; Hu in 2022. Whoever is selected will serve the remainder of Lueb’s mayoral term, which expires in December 2026.

During Tuesday’s meeting, City Attorney Shelby Rihala explained that the city charter prevents the city from holding an election for the vacant mayor’s position. The charter, Rihala said, only allows for a special election to fill the vacancy when there is at least a full year left in the term.

Because the deadline to put the mayor’s position on the November ballot has already passed, the soonest Tigard residents could vote on the role would be in a March 2026 special election. By then, there would be less than a year remaining in Lueb’s term.

The selection of the city’s next mayor comes at a pivotal point for the city after the revelation of years of turmoil at City Hall. While Lueb cited a host of issues with other city councilors and staff members in her resignation, records recently obtained by OPB indicate the city’s dysfunction and toxicity extended well beyond the mayor’s office.

Communications from multiple former employees detailed an alleged culture of bullying, harassment and retaliation by a former assistant city manager and a failure to take action by the former city manager. The issues translated to the departure of at least seven high level city employees in the past two years.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councilors spoke about the importance of moving on from a time of turmoil with a new mayor at the helm.

“We have 406 days until the next election and this council still has a lot to do to achieve its goals and rebuild trust with our city organization and our community,” Councilor Jake Schlack said. “I am ready to heal old wounds and get back to work.”

Following the promotion of Shaw or Hu to the mayor’s office next month, the city will begin the process for filling their vacant council seat. Shaw has just over three years left in her term. Hu has until the end of 2026.

Though the council did not make any decisions on filling either Hu or Shaw’s seat, they seemed to lean toward appointing a new councilor from the community at large, similar to the process used to appoint Schlack last year after the resignation of Councilor Jai Raj Singh.

Councilors also referenced recent requests from the public for the mayoral selection process to be as transparent as possible.

Youth Councilor Asher Hellhake was the only one at the dais to advocate for selecting a new mayor from the public at large.

“We have gotten so much public input over the past couple of weeks that people really want public involvement,” said Asher, who is a non-voting member of the council.

Allowing members of the public to apply for the position would help the city maintain the public’s trust, Asher said.

Ultimately, the majority of council felt it was important to promote one of their own to the mayor’s seat to ensure continuity and limit disruptions.

Appointing a replacement councilor to fill Shaw or Hu’s seat would provide the opportunity for a new voice, Wolf, Shaw, Hu and Councilor Heather Robbins pointed out.

Shaw and Hu will share their vision for the city and why they’d like to serve as mayor and answer questions from community members at the Oct. 7 meeting before the council makes its selection. The city will solicit questions from the community at some point before the meeting.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/24/two-tigard-city-councilors-vie-newly-open-mayoral-seat/