Former mayor Heidi Lueb is removed from the fray now going on at Tigard City Hall since her Sept. 9 resignation that followed an investigation into her conduct, and she wants to set the record straight.
Lueb was appointed to an open seat on the Tigard City Council in January 2019 and ran for mayor at the end of the term, taking office as the city’s first female mayor in January 2023.
She announced her resignation on her personal website just before the City Council was scheduled to hold an executive session to “consider the dismissal or disciplining of a public officer or hear complaints or charges brought against them,” and days before the results of the investigation were made public.
Michael V. Tom, owner of Northwest Workplace Investigations, conducted the investigation into allegations made against her and turned in his report to the city Sept. 2.
In Lueb’s lengthy public statement, she said in part, “I’m proud of the work that I’ve done, bringing millions of dollars back to the city, making serving our community more accessible, elevating the city’s profile regionally and nationally, showing up where I’ve been asked, and making people feel like their government and city is more welcoming, accessible and family friendly to name a few things…
“From the outside, the Tigard City Council has looked like a functioning body, but behind the scenes, it has been unraveling into cliques, power struggles, petty fighting, and goals of destruction.
“I’m not resigning because I’m guilty or that I’m afraid of whatever the council wants to do to ‘punish’ me. I’m doing it because I’m in a system that’s broken and I’m setting a boundary that for the first time in a long time prioritizes me and my family instead of my council and mayor work. I’m leaving on my terms because the broken system isn’t allowing me to do the work you’ve asked me to do and the community, and I, deserve better.”
The investigative report said of allegations about the mayor’s conduct and behavior towards City Councilor Jake Schlack that “this investigation finds that the cumulative evidence against Mayor Lueb shows it is more likely than not that Mayor Lueb made comments about a councilor that was perceived to be disrespectful and discourteous.”
As for allegations from city councilors and city employees about Lueb’s disrespectful conduct and behaviors towards them and/or other city staff, the report stated, “The collective and cumulative evidence corroborates and supports the workplace experiences and concerns that Mayor Lueb engages in unprofessional and disrespectful behaviors towards City Councilors and city staff. It is apparent from the almost unanimous and consistent reporting by City Councilors and staff that Mayor Lueb engages in a pattern of negative behavior and conduct that is contrary to Tigard’s Respectful Workplace Conduct policy and expectations.”
As for concerns over whether Lueb followed the city’s travel policy that incorporates the state’s standards and practices laws, the report states, “Based on available evidence, the city did not document approvals and did not deny or otherwise enforce its travel policies when Mayor Lueb exceeded the GSA rates. Based upon the evidence gathered and provided, the allegations are not substantiated.”
Lueb said that today she is enjoying life away from city politics. “I’m great,” she said. “I’m less stressed out than I have been in years, and now I have time for friends and family and to cheer on the Ducks.
“It broke my heart that being mayor ended this way. But life now is incredibly refreshing. I am focusing on my job and watching the chaos unfold at City Hall. It’s a sh– show and keeps getting worse. It’s disappointing to see the city continue to lack honesty and transparency about what’s going on.”
Lueb said she loved being mayor. “I did a great job,” she said. “I tried to listen, and I gave it my all, but it truly wore me down with all that was going on at City Hall. I had people mad at me because I didn’t acquiesce. The city was in chaos.
“I felt I was the glue holding everything together. I think the new city manager (Brent Stockwell, who is “unexpectedly out for some time,” according to the deputy city manager) saw a lot of what I saw, and he tried to step in and make changes, but people didn’t want to hear it and complained to me that he didn’t do things their way. Some staff did everything they could do to protect their staff rather than doing the right thing. This city lacks accountability and has lacked a true city manager leader for a long time.”
Lueb insists she worked “above and beyond the requirements of the job” and “stood up and advocated for the community,” adding, “I want to thank the community members who reached out to me and saw the bias in the news reports and thanked me for my service. The city should feel ashamed of the way everything happened. I’m not ashamed and embarrassed.”
She accused the city of not seeking the truth when it hired an investigator, adding, “I had to get an attorney and pay thousands of dollars to protect myself.”
On a personal level, “I had been thinking about leaving for a while,” Lueb said. “I had been unhappy as mayor, and my daughter said I should quit. My daughter asked me, “Why do you want to be mayor?” She boiled it down, but I feel I let the community down by not finishing my term. I’ve been honest about the way everything happened.”
