I’ve often wondered how our good Mayor Justin Wilson gets such good press from various local media figures? Today, we have something to show you – this is part 1 of a series of FOIA materials we received.
Go Fund Me Link ---> gf.me/u/yfrg8k
This is a window into the Seminary Rd process and once again highlights how our Mayor and his allies were able to gaslight the situation on Seminary Rd to manipulate an outcome to their benefit.
Enter Pat Sullivan of the Washington Post (look at the ridiculously biased picture she uses for her feature) who never seems to write anything controversial or well, impartial when it comes to our Mayor Justin Wilson.
We’ve always sort of suspected there was something well, weird going on … and here we are, an email from BPAC President Jim Durham thanking Justin for getting items changed in Sullivan’s ridiculously skewed feature about Seminary Rd (not a biased picture at on that item).
How nice is it to have friends who can get things done for you …? So not only did Durham get his personal trophy bikes lanes to nowhere installed by his house Durham was able to curry favor with his buddy Wilson to do his bidding with Sullivan.
Using the local media to gaslight a solution in search of a problem despite 13 Civic Associations, the City’s own Traffic and Parking Board, and well over 1600+ actual residents of the City writing in opposition to the radical road change is pretty awful. But the Mayor coordinating with BPAC’s president Sullivan of the Washington Post to make edits that will dictate an narrative is one of the reasons why people are so turned off to the political process. It’s infuriating to see lobbyists like Durham use his influence for the outcome Justin wanted to make happen.
The post today is one part of many to come … Please continue to donate to the entire Go Fund Me. We need the entire FOIA piece to find out just what did Justin ask of Sullivan?
A free and fair press is necessary for the health of liberty. We count on our press to hold government accountable and report hard truths. The FOIA materials showed that with two notable exceptions the local press does the bidding of city hall.|
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Last September right before Council vote, Patricia Sullivan of the Washington Post wrote a biased piece on residents of Alexandria seeking to keep Seminary Road 4 lanes with safety improvements. Her article interviewed a resident of a townhouse complex in the city who just so happened to work as an official for the League of American Bicyclists, a well-funded bike lobby. The article had a photo of her (and only her) near the home of the BPAC President. What a coincidence. Now we know how that article came to be.
The FOIA revealed that Sullivan was coordinating with city hall in the days leading up to publication. In a September 12 email (2 days before the vote), T&ES Director Yon Lambert notified Mark Jinks, Craig Fifer and others that he “just got off the phone with Pat Sullivan” who assured him that she would prepare an on-line piece, and further assuring him that she would be at the hearing and update it over the course of the day.
During the hearing, Sullivan updated the story to say that speakers were threatening to vote for new people on Council. BPAC demanded that she revise that sentence to say that only advocates of 4 lanes with improvements would vote against council members. Unbelievably, Sullivan revised the story to reflect their demands within moments.
You will not be shocked to learn that BPAC forwarded to the mayor an email it sent to Sullivan gleefully thanking her for her article – “Very much appreciated.” No kidding.
Rest assured that Sullivan gives only city hall and their favored lobbyists that kind of preferential treatment. Despite how much this issue has roiled the city since September 2019, Sullivan has not written a syllable. We seriously doubt the city wants the public to know how badly it failed and the turmoil it caused, and Sullivan is there for them.
Ask Patricia Sullivan why she writes for Justin and not as an impartial, professional journalist: patricia.sullivan@washpost.com