Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay publicly apologized this morning (Tuesday) for calling a school board member a “bimbo” during a heated text-message exchange over budget issues.
His language, directed at Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren, was “unacceptable,” McKay acknowledged during the county board’s May 19 meeting.
“Policy disagreements are both healthy and inevitable,” McKay said, while admitting he had crossed a line in a communication he did not know was being sent to Meren.
“Accountability matters. This is a moment of reflection, and one I will learn from,” McKay said in the latest apology he has issued on the subject.
McKay said he gave Meren a direct, personal apology that she accepted. He also apologized in a statement shared with press and on social media.
None of the supervisors responded to the public apology in their own reports that followed the chairman’s comments.
The back-and-forth between McKay and Meren began after the school board member published a newsletter on May 7 where she criticized the Board of Supervisors for adopting a fiscal year 2027 budget that eliminated crossing guards at high schools and shifted all funding obligations for Middle School After School programs to Fairfax County Public Schools.
The matter might have ended as just another internal spat among elected officials, but McKay then sent a screenshot of the back-and-forth to a third person, inadvertently including Meren in the chat.
It was in that message that McKay referred to Meren as “the bimbo,” according to screenshots of the exchange Meren released publicly.
Meren then replied to the text message, asking McKay if she was the person he was referencing.
“Yes because you have everyone here angry as heck and it costs the schools,” he replied. “Did you think about that before you sent out the ridiculous newsletter? You have to stop the finger pointing all the time. It’s exhausting and harmful.”
Merriam-Webster considers “bimbo” a term of disparagement, representing “an attractive but vacuous woman.” The male counterpart is a “himbo,” according to that dictionary.
They are derived from the Italian word for “baby.”
In his fiscal year 2027 budget package, County Executive Bryan Hill proposed eliminating Fairfax County Police Department crossing guards at high schools, while enlisting contractors to fill vacancies at the middle and elementary school levels to save about $1.9 million. The spending plan also called for the MSAS program to be funded by FCPS with new fees going forward.
Supervisors backed both requests in adopting the budget on May 5.
The identity of the person McKay had been texting when he inadvertently added Meren has not been confirmed, but is believed to have been Hill.
Many of Fairfax County’s representatives in the General Assembly issued a joint statement condemning McKay’s remarks, while the school board called his use of the word “bimbo” “unacceptable and unprofessional” in a May 15 statement, according to Annandale Today.
All Board of Supervisors and school board seats will be on the ballot in 2027. Meren, who is serving her first four-year term, has announced plans to seek reelection.
