Fairfax Chairman Apologizes After Calling School Board Member A 'Bimbo'

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay (D-At-Large) issued a public apology Tuesday for a text message directed at School Board Member Melanie Meren (Hunter Mill District) during last week's budget deliberations.

McKay handed the gavel to Vice Chairman Catherine Smith (D-Sully) during the board matters portion of the meeting to address the situation. He stated that accountability matters and that he reached out to Meren to apologize for his comment, which he said she graciously accepted.

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"Policy disagreements are both healthy and inevitable in this line of work," McKay said. "However, my comment was unacceptable and far beneath every standard that I hold myself to."

The controversy began following a May 13 Facebook post by Meren, which detailed text messages sent after she protested a county budget cut in her May 7 newsletter.

According to Meren, the Board of Supervisors approved a budget on May 5 that eliminated crossing guards on roadways to public high schools. Meren noted that Fairfax County Public Schools faces a $43.8 million budget shortfall between its transfer request and what the Board of Supervisors allotted, and that the board upheld a recommendation by County Executive Bryan Hill to shift the $4 million responsibility for the Middle School After-School Program to FCPS.

Meren reported that McKay sent her texts criticizing her newsletter and demanding an apology. McKay then sent a text that included Meren, apparently intended for County Executive Bryan Hill, asking "What I sent the Bimbo," according to Meren's post. When Meren asked him to confirm if she was "the bimbo," McKay texted back, "Yes because everyone here is angry as heck and it costs the schools."

In his public statement Tuesday, McKay also addressed the female board members, county staff, residents, and members of county boards, authorities, and commissions.

"I am sorry, we are living through a time when people's rights, including women's rights, are under attack, and this is a moment of reflection, and one that I will learn from, and staying true to our One Fairfax policy," McKay said.

Meren had previously criticized the chairman's actions in her post, stating, "Attempts to stifle criticism and accountability are not signs of strength, but weakness." She also thanked Hunter Mill Supervisor Walter Alcorn for rejecting the budget markups, and Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk for trying to protect the high school crossing guard program.