A Scottsdale Unified School District board member is facing backlash for calling a district employee "morbidly obese" during a public meeting.
The district’s director of Nutrition Services, Patti Bilbrey was giving a presentation about a program that distributes meals to kids over the summer.
Board member Carine Werner, who is also a state senator, seemingly forgot to mute herself on Zoom when she talked over Bilbrey and complained about the presentation:
"This is what I have to listen to. She's nutrition services and she's like morbidly obese."
Mike Norton is a parent of former SUSD students and he runs a Facebook page called “Respect Our Scottsdale Students” which has about 4,000 followers. He said about 22% of the district’s students are on nutritional assistance.
“You’re attacking the person, you’re attacking the program," Norton said, "you’re completely disregarding the needs of the community because perhaps you are affluent and you don’t care.”
Norton added that Bilbrey is a beloved member of the community.
“She’s just an incredibly dedicated and fiercely supportive person who finds new ways every year to help families even more," Norton said.
KJZZ reached out to Werner for comment but she did not respond.
