Scientology's town
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Scientology’s new Flag Building is the centerpiece of a $160-million construction campaign. “I get chills when I see that building,” says Scientologist Randy Poletz. But its sheer size — it commands a full city block — makes some non-church members nervous.
Click for interactive map of dowtown Clearwater properties |
Requiem for a City
By George Orwell
Today was a sad day...today brought about the "final solution" for
Scientology--the occupation of Clearwater is now a fait accompli.
With the opening today of the new causeway bridge to Clearwater Beach,
the nefarious plans by Scientology in Clearwater, and exposed several
years ago by former Mayor Gabe Cazares, became a reality---bringing
about a total and complete Scientology City.
I can't remember exactly how many years ago he got hold of them, but
Gabe somehow gained access to a "master plan," schemed up and
orchestrated to the most minute detail by Scientology. It spelled out
how little by little they would purchase the majority of the
properties in downtown Clearwater and then "convince" the city fathers
to re-route traffic from Cleveland Street to the beach to an
alternative route that would basically stop the outside world from
driving through their "cult campus."
For those that have never been to downtown Clearwater, Cleveland
Street was the main thoroughfare to the beach---slicing right through
Scientology's real estate holdings. Their plan back then, according to
Gabe, was to wrest control of downtown by cutting off that flow of
non-church related traffic---with the final act in the play being the
church's "offer" to the city to maintain the streets that cut through
their properties---making downtown Clearwater a campus comprised of
many LRH Ways a la Los Angeles. We can only assume that it's just a
matter of time before Cleveland Street is so named.
Today, with the opening of the new causeway, the detour signs have
already appeared--- indicating the closing of Cleveland Street to
through-traffic. Today there was, for the first time, no traffic on
Cleveland Street in downtown. Today for the first time, the pastel
"Clearwater Sea Org uniforms" were no where to be seen. The troops
were back to the standard issue navy-style uniforms---navy and white
and epaulets, like the old days. No need to placate the city officials
who felt that the faux navy uniforms frightened the locals--there's
nobody driving down the street to notice anymore.
Gabe Cazares warned the city council of these plans for years
now---but the city sold out and ignored him. Now, City Hall is
relocating and the Calvary Baptist church is being replaced with a
condo project. In spite of the fact that there are even more vacant
storefronts in downtown than six months ago, Scientology maintains its
stranglehold tighter than ever. And whereas the Super Power building
still has a gaping hole in its side, no one will notice to complain or
question it because nobody but Scientologists will drive by to see it.
What a sad day it is to see the final breath leave a dying city---all
as a result of a well-laid plan by a cult that sucks the life out of
everything it touches.
By Barbara Graham
xenubarb@netscape.net
Back in the 60s, San Diego was beginning to evolve from a sleepy little Navy town to a valuable tourist destination. Blessed with a mild climate, palm trees, beautiful bays and beaches, and the fabulous San Diego zoo, it was an ideal place for tourist development. Forty years later, it has become a major attraction for both families and conventions. Clearwater shares many of the same attributes. Sun, sand, palm trees, it could have become a desirable place to take a vacation. The potential was there, until a group moved in and started buying up property under an assumed name, "United Churches of Florida."
That group was actually the Church of Scientology. Once entrenched, the organization began making moves to take over the town. In 1976, Scientologists released a "fact sheet" on Mayor Cazares and his wife, accusing them of all manner of business and personal crimes; trying to discredit him with rumours pertaining to his sex life, and attempting to frame him in a hit-and-run accident. Subsequent FBI raids of church offices in 1977 revealed several plans directed at controlling the Clearwater media and local government by infiltrating public services and business organizations.
What follows their arrival is a Gordian knot of lawsuits and antics as Scientology attempts to rid the city of critics, suppress free speech, and gain a greater control over the local government. These activities continue to this day, to the detriment of Clearwater's reputation and potential as a desirable convention and tourist destination, not to mention its economy.
Meanwhile, during the same time period, San Diego continues to grow. Sea World is built on Mission Bay. A major Convention Center attracts a growing client base, bringing millions of dollars in revenue to the city. Hotels are springing up to support the Convention Center. New housing developments are everywhere. Forty years can and should make a difference in a community's development. The city of Clearwater has made its aspirations quite clear as far as becoming a tourist destination. It would love to share in the benefits of becoming a world-class attraction, yet, there is little to entice travellers to stop and spend. The downtown area is moribund, plagued by decaying, empty storefronts.
San Diego's downtown, by contrast, is booming. Thousands of people pour in on the weekends to dine, shop, take in a movie, and see the historic Victorian ambience San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter has to offer. Twenty years ago, this district was dead, as shopping malls took the business away from the area. Now restored, the Gaslamp Quarter teems with tourists from all over the world. Compare this scene with Clearwater. Scientology's heavy presence will keep downtown in a state of decay. People simply don't want to visit a place that has a frightening presence, and people are clearly frightened by Scientology's reputation. Nor do they wish to enjoy themselves in an environment monitored by Scientology cameras. The organization's stranglehold on Clearwater guarantees that the city's goal of being a tourist destination will never be realized. That this situation has been allowed to continue in Clearwater is not entirely a mystery.
The number one goal of a politician is to get reelected. Campaigns cost money, something the Scientology organization has plenty of. Moreover, this problem is of such magnitude, that city government seems willing to turn a blind eye to Scientology behavior in the hopes that it will somehow all work out and go away. When I read a statement from a Clearwater city representative hopefully declaring "a new era of understanding" with Scientology, I can't help but be reminded of another doggedly hopeful politician, Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of England. He took office in 1937. During his time in office, Germany merged with Austria. Following that union, forbidden by the Versaille Treaty, Hitler demanded and was given the Sudentenland, which was handed over in a misplaced belief that this act would avoid war with the Third Reich. This document, the Munich Agreement, was signed by Chamberlain, Hitler, and Mussolini. The deluded Chamberlain returned to England and declared, "My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep." It is said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It appears that Clearwater city officials are doing just that. They are doggedly clinging to a fantasy in which Scientology and the community can "just get along."
Moreover, Clearwater is bending over backward to accomodate Scientology to the extent that ridiculous farce is being played out in its courtrooms against those who speak out, and certain illegal activities, such as assaults, have been ignored, even when captured on video! There is plenty of evidence available that shows Scientology to be a totalitarian cult which will not hesitate to break the law when it suits their purposes. Scientology likes to say, "we don't do that any more," while continuing in the activities they were investigated for in the 70s and 80s.
It is interesting to note that, when Scientology is criticized for its illegal and unethical behavior, it trots out the banner of religious intolerance and persecution. The issue that city government seems to be avoiding is this: it's not about religion, it is about the abuse of people and the law. It is evident that non-Scientology Clearwater residents don't like the cult in their midst. Videos of pickets show a nonstop flow of public support from drivers, honks, waves and thumbs up. Letters to the SP Times are overwhelmingly critical of Scientology and its influence in Clearwater. The majority of residents are afraid to speak out, however, fearing the retribution Scientology is famous for. That the city seems to favor a criminally convicted organization with a continuing history of fraud, lies, and harassment is mystifying to me. When I hear a city official blaming a watchdog group for the turmoil in Clearwater, I can only shake my head in disgust. The Lisa McPherson Trust is blamed for creating this environment of fear and conflict, as well as wasting city resources through the police department which has to respond to calls involving Scientology and the Trust. It would be interesting to compare the two groups' requests for police assistance. I would bet that the majority of calls come from Scientology, and are merely nuisance calls utilizing the Clearwater police force as their personal enforcement tool against their perceived enemies. Blaming the Lisa McPherson Trust for Clearwater's problems makes as much sense as blaming the chickens for attracting the fox.
The Lisa McPherson Trust certainly is not the cause of this conflict. Its goal is to educate the people of Clearwater as to the true nature of Scientology and help those who wish to leave. To the Scientology organization, however, this is viewed as harassment. Picket signs are perceived as harassment as well, as exposing the group's true nature certainly impedes their attempts to be accepted in the community as a benevolent asset to Clearwater. In its pursuit of this goal, it rides roughshod over the First Amendment, attempts to frame and intimidate people who speak out against them, has placed a hundred cameras around downtown, and investigates people who write letters to the local paper. Even its attempts to promote itself as a civil asset explodes in controversy of its own making, the memorial brick project in the alley being a good example. In a nutshell, this project was to beautify an alley next to one of Scientology's many buildings downtown.
A memorial brick project was launched by a group calling itself "Citizens for a Better Clearwater." Engraved bricks could be purchased for placement in the alley, which was also to be landscaped and provided with benches and old-fashioned lights. On the surface, this was a worthwhile project to improve a little piece of downtown. This quickly devolved into a fiasco when a brick dedicated to the memory of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died in their care, was rejected. Controversy erupted at this rejection. The Committee for a Beautiful Clearwater denied any cult involvement in their group. It later came out that this was a blatant lie; there were indeed Scientologists on this committee, who used their influence to reject a brick dedicated to one of their many victims. Oddly enough, the other rejected brick was in memory of Leo J. Ryan, the United States congressman who was slain in Jonestown, Guyana by Peoples Temple followers at Jim Jones' order.
After this story of corruption and censorship hit the local Clearwater papers, the city was gravely embarrassed by the controversy, and ordered that the bricks be accepted for the alley park. By 2004, Lisa McPherson's brick was the only one defaced, as Scientologists on break ground their cigarettes out on her brick until her name was obliterated. Jeff Jacobsen, who ordered the brick, complained to the city, and a new brick was ordered and installed, this time in a well lighted area. It really says something about Scientologists, that they would deface a brick in remembrance of a victim of a potentially lethal practice known as the Introspection Rundown, where a practitioner can be held against their will.
While being held at Scientology's Fort Harrison hotel for seventeen days, Lisa McPherson lost forty pounds and died of dehydration. The Medical Examiner later changed her diagnosis to the one preferred by the cult, that she had died of a blood clot from an earlier fender bender. Dr. Woods then left her job and disappeared for a year, but the cult was unable to suppress news about McPherson's death. Clearwater needs to take stock of its image nationally. You have a stagnant downtown dominated by the new, still unfinished prison-like Superpower Building which will be topped by the Scientology double cross. You have an atmosphere of fear and distrust, local residents avoid downtown like the plague, and this is not conducive to attracting outsiders to play and spend money. In the past forty years, San Diego has evolved into a vibrant, productive, successful community which has achieved its goals of being a world-class tourist destination, while Clearwater's similar goals are still just wishful thinking. The main obstacle to achieving these goals is Scientology, period. The city needs to make a compete assessment and decide which will be the better path; does Scientology benefit the city's future to the same degree that tourism will? The stark reality is, you can't have both. You will either continue with a frightening, monitored community dominated by Scientology, or a potential golden future as a tourist Mecca. Scientology has its own agenda for Clearwater, and, despite claims to the contrary from "church" spokesmen, their goals are not the same as yours. Their goals are clearly stated, to create a community they can run with impunity with no opposition, a community that will leave them free to prey on the unwary, destroy human rights, and crush all opposition.
This is not hyperbole, any research into the writings of Lafayette R. Hubbard will show that this plan is mapped out in detail and, due to the inherent nature of Scientology's policy of adhering only to Hubbard's unaltered writings, will never change. Your first step will be to curtail Scientology's influence and let them know that their unethical activities must stop. They must be shown that the behavior they're so famous for will no longer be tolerated. You must restore an atmosphere of tranquility to Clearwater so that people will enjoy themselves rather than looking over their shoulders at the guy taking pictures of them for no apparent reason. You must also restore the human rights that Scientology is working so hard to strip away from your community. Until then, "Go home and get a nice quiet sleep," if you can. |
More on Clearwater Florida, the city being taken over by Scientology:
Scientology's Assault on Clearwater Florida
http://www.holysmoke.org/cw.htm
Not So Clear in Clearwater -- Scientology Takes Over a Town
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-13.html
The Death of Lisa Mcpherson in Clearwater Florida
http://www.lisamcpherson.org
Will critic of Scientology Shawn Lonsdale run for mayor?
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?t=21542
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?t=21515&postorder=asc
Who is Shawn Lonsdale?
Scientologist assaults peaceful protester filming documentary
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