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City of Clearwater and Scientology Maneuverings

September 18, 2022 By Mike Rinder 19 Comments

The latest reporting from Tracey McManus highlights the tensions in the city as they try to deal with the maneuverings of David Miscavige. The Mayor and City Manager are on one side, and the City Council on the other in the battle over parcels of downtown property scientology wants. Tracey's earlier report goes into more detail about the plans to build affordable housing across the street from Miscavige's office and the termination of that planned construction after Miscavige got involved. Now, City Council members (notably Mark Bunker and Kathleen Beckman) are upset that they have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater, David Miscavige Tagged With: City of Clearwater, David Miscavige, Frank Hibbard, Jon Jennings, Kathleen Beckman, Mark Bunker, Tracey McManus

Miscavige Playing Footsie With Clearwater

December 5, 2021 By Mike Rinder 61 Comments

Another recent story from Tracey McManus, Scientology's David Miscavige discusses 'partnership' with Clearwater recounts a recent meeting between Miscavige, the Mayor Frank Hibbard, the new City Attorney David Margolis and new City Manager Jon Jennings. It was typical Miscavige, all smiles, handshakes and positivity to try to persuade the new guys in town that he is a nice guy. Just wait until he doesn't get what he wants. Stefani Hutchinson covered the reporting on her excellent blog: Miscavige's Fresh Start: Not New, Not True For someone who has never been a scientologist, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Clearwater, David Margolis, David Miscavige, Frank Hibbard, Jon Jennings, L. Ron Hubbard, Mockinbird, Stefani Hutchinson, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

Aaron Smith Levin for Clearwater City Council

September 15, 2021 By Mike Rinder 50 Comments

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Aaron Smith-Levin, CLearwater City Attorney, Clearwater City Council, Clearwater City Manager, David Margolis, Eliseo Santana, Frank Hibbard, Gabe Cazares, Jon Jennings, Lisa Mansell, Mark Bunker, Pam Bondi, Paris morfopolous, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

The Scientology BS is Deep

November 7, 2020 By Mike Rinder 49 Comments

    Tracey McManus article reporting on a meeting David Miscavige had with the Clearwater Mayor and City Attorney last week isn't very revelatory on the surface. But I will try to read between the lines and explain the significance of this meeting based on scientology policy and my experience. The first thing to know is that short of testifying under oath (and even then, good scientologists have no fear of lying if they believe a lie is for the "greatest good"), the real story (either what happened in the past or intentions fo rthe future)is never going to be revealed in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: City of Clearwater, Clearwater, Clearwater Aquarium, David Miscavige, Frank Hibbard, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

City Councilman Mark Bunker and Scientology Tax Exempt Status

March 18, 2020 By Mike Rinder 72 Comments

  The news has sunk in, Mark Bunker is now a Clearwater City Commissioner-elect. As Tracey McManus put it, this is a historic day for Clearwater. There is another piece in the Tampa Bay Times (top of article screencapped above) this morning. It makes some interesting points - first of which is noting Bunker's "desire for the city to urge the IRS to revoke Scientology's tax exempt status..." Some have poo-poo'd this idea "The City of Clearwater doesn't grant tax exempt status, the IRS does" -- as if Mark Bunker is unaware of the difference between a city government and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater, Tax Exemption Tagged With: Church of Scientology, Clearwater Florida, David Miscavige, Flag Service Organization, Frank Hibbard, irs, Kathleen Beckman, Kirby Wilson, Mark Bunker, public relations, Scientology, Tax Exemption, Tracey McManus

Clearwater City Elections — Scientology Endorsements

February 29, 2020 By Mike Rinder 16 Comments

A recent article in FlaPol (FloridaPolitics.com) reports on recommendations from scientologists "Citizens for Social Reform" (Brett Miller, Joanie and Steve Sigal) These are the surrogates who deliver the political direction of the church without being a formalized statement from the institution. Why do they do it this way? Because if the church itself published them it would run afoul of 501(c)3 prohibitions against political endorsements (though the Evangelicals don't seem to be too concerned about that). But make no mistake, the "Citizens for Social Reform" are just another scientology … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Clearwater City Council, Clearwater Florida, Elisio Santana, Frank Hibbard, Kathleen Beckman, Mark Bunker, public relations, Scientology

Where Clearwater Candidates Stand on Scientology

January 6, 2020 By Mike Rinder 27 Comments

Tracey McManus published another of her uniformly excellent articles recently:  Where every Clearwater City Council Candidate stands on Scientology I have excerpted most of the answers to her survey and offer my biased views on them. I believe there are just two reasons why scientology is actually being spoken about in this election.  It has been a taboo subject for local politicians for decades. They have steered clear of this topic like it was the plague...  Now for the first time in recent memory, it is something  to be debated. The two factors are Tracey's bombshell article … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clearwater Tagged With: Bob Cundiff, Bruce Rector, Bud Elias, Church of Scientology, Clearwater Florida, Elisio Santana, Elizabeth Drayer, Flag Service Organization, Frank Hibbard, Kathleen Beckman, Lina Teixeira, Mark Bunker, Michael Mannino, Scott Thomas, tampa bay times, Tracey McManus

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Important Reading

Troublemaker - Leah Remini
Ruthless - Ron Miscavige
Going Clear - Lawrence Wright
Bare Faced Messiah - Russell Miller
Counterfeit Dreams - Jeff Hawkins
Blown For Good - Marc Headley
Abuse at the Top - Amy Scobee
Unbreakable Miss Lovely - Tony Ortega
The Church of Fear - John Sweeney
Fair Game - Steve Cannane
Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman
A Piece of Blue Sky - Jon Atack
Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige
My Billion Year Contract
Escaping Scientology - Karen Schless
Commodore's Messenger - Janis Grady
Commodore's Messenger - Book II
Scythe Tleppo - Nathan Rich
Expert Witness - Jesse Prince
Perfectly Clear - Michelle LeCaire
Ron the War Hero - Chris Owen
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