The latest Tracey McManus article on scientology ran yesterday, announcing that Aaron Smith-Levin is running to join Mark Bunker on the Clearwater City Council. Unfortunately, the editor chose a photo that featured me more prominently than Aaron and some thought I was running (I do not live in Clearwater so am not eligible to serve on the City Council).
This is a significant event in Clearwater. Mark Bunker was elected to the City Council earlier. There is a new regime in Clearwater — a new City Manager (Jon Jennings) and City Attorney (David Margolis) are coming to town, hopefully they will get themselves acquainted with the truth about scientology. The old guard, two people Miscavige knew well and considered were his allies (I am sure they dispute this characterization), are no longer there. The Mayor, Frank Hibbard is a pragmatist but no friend of scientology. Clearwater and its relationship to scientology is changing.
Aaron poses the greatest challenge to scientology’s control in Clearwater yet. He is a former Sea Org member who has been very vocal in his criticism of scientology, the Sea Org and David Miscavige for many years. He is jumping in with both feet, starting out by making his intention clear to use his position to demand federal agencies investigate scientology. He makes a very good point: Clearwater is more heavily impacted by scientology tax exempt status than any other community on earth (the revenue loss to the city is enormous) and their violations of public policy are more concentrated in Clearwater than anywhere else, so if Clearwater is not leading the way in demanding something be done about this how can anyone expect federal agencies to take it seriously?
This is a direct broadside at scientology, threatening that which they will try to protect at all costs. Their tax exemption.
How will scientology respond?
Certainly with Fair Game. You can expect to see more smear sites and new claims about what a reprehensible individual Aaron is. Korean POW style videos from “former associates” delivering scripted diatribes. It would be par for the course that they try to set him up with some scandal — the days of covert ops are NOT over. In the past scientology has used honey-traps, women sent in to obtain compromising photos. In the past, scientology has had enemies pulled over with anonymous reports of drunk driving or drugs in someone’s vehicle, with a photographer ready to snap shots for subsequent Freedom magazine splashes. Contacting supporters asking questions intended to plant seeds of doubt that he is a nice guy (“We are investigating him for financial fraud, do you have any information that would assist in this inquiry?” or “We have received reports of animal abuse and are very concerned about this, have you ever seen him mistreat his dog?”). The range of potential actions is almost unlimited, and for this they will spare no expense. For anyone unfamiliar with the tactics of scientology, read Dealing with Critics of Scientology — the L. Ron Hubbard Playbook
And this one: Framing Whistleblower — the Scientology Playbook
And this article about what scientology did to the former Mayor of Clearwater, Gabe Cazares — he was framed for a fake hit and run accident, had false documents planted in official records that he was a bigamist and much more:
There can be little doubt that scientology will try to manufacture scandal to derail Aaron’s campaign. We will wait to see what form it takes. And then cash in some “I told you so” chips.
The more interesting question to me is whether scientology will try to run their own candidate.
For decades they have been convincing politicians in the local area that they have a huge voting block in order to get them on their side. Some have fallen for it. Former Florida A/G Pam Bondi being a notable one. They have variously claimed 10,000 scientologists in Clearwater and 15,000 in Tampa Bay greater metro area. Both numbers are wildly inflated. And though they might have a few thousand who live within Clearwater City limits, this includes children and the large percentage of Sea Org members who are not US citizens. So, the number of votes they can muster is NOT great. But then again, 5,000 votes can win a City Council election in Clearwater.
Scientology could easily select one of their current puppets — Paris Morfopolous for example — and tell him to run. Even put up Lisa Mansell, their Sea Org member “Community Relations Director.” They would certainly have the support of every eligible scientology voter in Clearwater who would be ordered to go out and vote for him next March. But I doubt this will happen. They fear the humiliation of a scientology candidate ONLY getting votes from scientologists which would give an accurate count of how many there are in Clearwater. That is the last thing scientology wants. More likely they will support Aaron’s opponent like they did when Mark Bunker was running. Then it was Eliseo Santana who read scripted scientology dead-agent lines and his campaign manager was a vocal heckler of Bunker. They will no doubt provide financial support to his opponent through their network of local, wealthy scientologists who are directed in their activities by the Office of Special Affairs.
To reiterate: the simplest way for scientology to avoid Aaron taking his place on the City Council would be for them to get a scientologist elected. My bet is they won’t dare try. And that itself will be evidence they don’t have the political power they have long claimed in Clearwater.
Aaron is stepping into scientology’s crosshairs even more than he already has been. Support him any way you can. This is going to be a significant move in flipping the script in Clearwater. And for those who have wondered “What can I do to help?” here is a golden opportunity. When the campaign season officially begins tomorrow, reach out to Aaron and see what you can do.
I’m just a no one British woman, never met a scientologist in my life but have become a big fan of ex scientologists for the strength of character they bring to the table.
I’m going to chip in ten quid for Aaron.
It’s a vote for freedom.
Keep being amazing all of you.
Samantha White O’Boyle, Lincolnshire, UK.
I wonder if he [Aaron] still has the dog declared as SP by $cientology Church or the dog die natural age?.
Every time I see Aaron, I remember that,
We talked about his dog on the podcast 2 weeks ago — he is very much alive. Still an SP.
WOW, I cant believe that my comment was post!
I even send you a comm Mike about this Vlog giving me 404 DOS saying Comment repeated.
Thanks a million Mike for you ACK,
I’ll try to find the podcast.
Peace and Blessing to you and Leah.
I know scientology is dying. And that is seems to be using Clearwater as its final resting place. However, it does not get to drag a city and community down with it.
I just donated $50 to his campaign. Even though he is apart of the anti-scientology cult I still feel he will be good for business in clearwater. And as a red blooded capitalist that’s the most important thing.
Howie—
“Anti-$cientology cult”??
Umm, are you being serious or sarcastic? Hopefully the latter.
Can’t vote since I don’t live there but will donate for sure!!
I’m wondering how many drinks Miscavage has had just this morning.
Drink up, little Davey boy. You’re gonna need it.
I’m sitting here imagining Davey guzzling his fine scotch one thimbleful at a time, the proper-sized drinking vessel for the size of his hands. I also see a number of them being thrown at the nearest wall in frustration. You’ve anticipated his first thoughts of possible moves and are countering them effectively.
I wonder if city council can rezone areas for ONLY commercial (NOT non-profit) enterprises?
Dezoning downtown Clearwater to only commercial…That would be a gutsy move, one that I’m sure scientology would strenuously fight if CW tried it. Sadly, I doubt that they can remove ‘religious’ designation that has been so claimed for 45 years. I’m not sure, but around here where I live, it seems that churches are fine when placed in residential areas, commercial areas, anywhere the churches wish to build/move.
IANAL, but I’m not sure there IS a specific ‘Religious’ zoning, and I’m fairly sure that the Fort Harrison and CW Bank Building weren’t ‘church’-related when we snuck in in the middle of the night 45 years ago. That probably didn’t get claimed for the better part of a year, after we were uncovered as agents of scientology.
I love it. Good luck Aaron!
As for the bullshit Fair Game tactics that will be employed by scientology, the great news is the public expects it and knows what it is. Who would have thought that the policy of never deviating from LRH’s tired old playbook would wind up hurting scientology in the end? Certainly not a scientologist. They just can’t compete with the internet and the truth.
Good LUCK Aaron! None of us would wish what scientology is likely to throw your way in an effort to neutralize you as a potential threat to their ‘theocracy’*.
*(TBT, a fascist dictatorship, Davey at the top, is their current goal.)
Good luck Aaron!!! Awesome news!
Perhaps we’ll see the return candidacy of this guy (I can’t be bothered with looking up his name) who grew up in the cherch but claimed that he was “not really” active any longer. So he would be “experienced” enough to “deal with” the cherch but no threat to the occupied wogs. The Clamchurian Candidate.
His last name was Myers. I knew his mother, Tina.
I LIKE “The Clamchurian Candidate”. Does anyone remember his name? Might it Be the Joyless Villa? SHE doesn’t have a habitation in Clearwater, does she?
I LIKE “The Clamchurian Candidate”.
I tell the story of Gabe Cezares to illustrate how far Scientology Inc will go to harm and destroy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TspWaAGjaek
And the GO was so PROUD of their machinations back then against Gabe. They would have been so smug and happy had he been pushed over the edge as a result. As I saw it, the guy was just trying to do the job he was elected to do. He didn’t deserve the mistreatment; MOST targetted by scientology’s agents didn’t/don’t deserve the mistreatment scientology heaps upon them, AFAICT.
Well Spoken Jere Lull
Clearwater would be lucky to have Aaron. It is the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics.
With Aaron elected, only Dwarfenführer® would be adversely affected – and possibly the wall closest to his ‘drinking chair’. Aaron as the second city councilman might be best for scientology; they MIGHT learn valuable lessons about dealing with REAL people in the REAL world, as opposed to the caricatures they’ve been indoctrinated were outside of their tiny little bubble.
From an Objectivist viewpoint the doctrine of Scientology is clearly absurd. Voltaire said it best: Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.
Excellent comment 👌
Aaron, has the quality’s needed to help Clearwater expand. He is smart, experienced regarding the cult and articulate.
Aaron you have my support. Where do I sign up. And any music you need for radio ads or videos let me know. You have access to my music and skills any time.
O/T. Report: Church of Scientology placing it’s Covid-19 infected staff or parishioners in Los Angeles apartment units
In a Reddit post that has since been removed, “EvieSilver” said:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210912102657id_/https://np.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/pmoxrb/need_advice/
https://web.archive.org/web/20210912102728id_/https://old.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/pmoxrb/need_advice/
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submitted 2 hours ago by EvieSilver
The Church of Scientology owns my building. There are vacant units and for the past week they have been lodging their exposed to covid-19, and assumed infected, parishioners in the vacant units. That’s three units with 12+ people being brought in. We feel unsafe and fear being infected with the coronavirus. Not only that but these people all smoke and their secondhand smoke is affecting us. It’s truly become an uninhabitable living situation. What are our options
* * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
HT — Incredulicide on WWP:
https://whyweprotest.net/threads/church-of-scientology-hiding-its-infected-staff-in-los-angeles-vacant-units.137760/
Archived on ESMBR at:
https://exscn2.net/threads/report-church-of-scientology-placing-its-covid-19-infected-staff-or-parishioners-in-los-angeles-apartment-units.4009/
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Also archived on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2TGL4oQYX/
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Run Aaron, run!! But remember that if elected $cientology is only a small part of the job.
I don’t expect that the IRS will ever mess with the Clampire’s tax exemption. But it would make me so happy if they did. At the moment Pres Biden is busy getting more IRS enforcement agents hired and trained then he is looking at a small cult’s tax exemption.
Gee, this is all so confusing. So, if Aaron running for city council is a problem for Miscavige then doesn’t that mean that Miscavige pulled it in and needs some serious auditing to figure out what he’s done to pull this in? It must be so exhausting for him having to get up every single day trying to keep his criminal enterprise up and running. No wonder he drinks 🙂 It has to be more and more difficult as a professional criminal to keep on convincing people to give him more money.
Maybe he needs a time out, 25 to life seems like a good number. Plenty of time to reflect.
According to Freedom magazine, there are 15,000 Scientologists living in Clearwater. What is the real number?
Don,
Using scieno’s 47X expansion fudge factor, one simply divides their number by 47 and come up with a realistic number of 320. Happy to help.
Thanks, Jim but I suspect you’re being facetious and the real number is a bit higher than that. My WAG is 3,000 to 5,000. I’m curious what actual informed people think.
Yes, and yes.
Naw Don, there are PERHAPS 4,000 non staff scamologists (active on lines) in the entire US. More than half being in California. At home Solo NUTS auditors scattered around and most the rest in Tampa Bay area. No more than 500-1,000 inside the actual city limits of CW.
Don, the estimates I’ve seen are that’s about a 10x exaggeration, which is par for scientology. Maybe more like a thousand or so in Clearwater itself, plus all the Sea Org many of whom are foreign nationals ineligible to vote, and then hundreds more members in the greater Tampa Bay area.
Typically Scientology claims figures with some flimsy basis, such as everyone on their mailing lists from having done some “service” at some point, or possibly everyone who holds an IAS membership – mostly people pushed to buy lifetime memberships long ago, who no longer have anything to do with the CofS. There might be more of those inactive and former members in the Clearwater area, as a lot of people seem to come to the “mecca” and then burn out from the mixture of disappointment and high pressure, but it still couldn’t be over 10 thousand in Clearwater itself, though possibly in the whole region.
Speaking of which, the one thing that may affect things a bit, is the current reported trend of members to give up on their failing local orgs, and move to Clearwater. But I don’t think that could ever involve more than a couple of hundred people, and again that factor of burnout and disillusionment will probably come into play and keep the number of members more in the ballpark of a thousand over the long run.
I doubt there are many if any more than 10 thousand active scientologists in the world, outside of the Sea Org (apparently around 3,500 these days), and it would only ever be practical or possible for a small portion of those to move to Clearwater even if they wanted to.
I appreciate the informed estimates and I’m happy to hear that my WAG is likely way too high.
IMO, the real number of scns is probably closest to the 1,000 or so S.O. staff & “parishioners” temporarily residing there for services. 15,000 is WELL above the actual number, maybe greater than the total number of them worldwide. The number of scientologists is a sore point for them, so they inflate the number as far as they think they can get away with. PLUS a bit to make the tiny tyrant feel more important.
Maybe a tip for the commenter who said he find watching scientology becoming boring to subscribe to Aaron’s youtube channel. Very entertaining, informative and he’s an expert in getting under little Daveys skin :)))))
This is going to be 6 months of daily entertainment on just this storyline
Great news! I think Aaron would do a great job and be a real asset to Clearwater.
I hope that Aaron uses any attacks on him to HIS advantage. That is to say, use the attacks and smears to show the Clearwater community how the CoS operates against anyone who exposes its abuses
2/25-26/22: Churches of Scientology Disaster Response to appear at the official Utah Government Be Ready Utah Expo: Preparedness, Health, & Safety
https://beready.utah.gov/be-ready-utah-expo/
Archived with a screenshot on ESMBR at:
https://exscn2.net/threads/2-25-26-22-churches-of-scientology-disaster-response-to-appear-at-the-official-utah-government-be-ready-utah-expo-preparedness-health-safety.4007/
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I couldn’t find anything about scientology in the links given, so I expect their “preparedness” would be to have the WTH booklet handy.
O/T. Church of Scientology National Affairs Office Joins Campaign to Bring Back Missing Yazidi Women and Children
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Nadia’s Initiative Leads Campaign to Bring Back Missing Yazidi Women and Children
https://www.nadiasinitiative.org/news/nadias-initiative-leads-campaign-to-bring-back-missing-yazidi-women-and-children
Archived on ESMBR at:
https://exscn2.net/threads/church-of-scientology-national-affairs-office-joins-campaign-to-bring-back-missing-yazidi-women-and-children.4006/
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The idea that scientology cares ANYTHING about the Yazidi people is such a farce. Thanks for the lulz, ISNOINews.
So excited for him! I am a subscriber to his YouTube channel and have learned a lot from him. I don’t live in Clearwater but I’m looking forward to donating funds to his campaign effort! I know he’s happy to have you behind him. 🙂
I live in Washington State. I’ll be happily donating, too.
Flowing power to Aaron in any way is good for all, wherever we live. Clearwater is just the first battle against that evil multinational *scam against Humanity.*