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...]
Unofficial Result — Mark Bunker Wins Election
This is an historic day in Clearwater. Providing nothing changes as this is made into the official result (not sure when this will be), Mark Bunker is now a City Council member of the City of Clearwater. The scientology backed candidate came in 4th out of 5... Once and for all proving that scientology in fact has NO political clout in Clearwater, let alone Tampa Bay. Congratulations to Mark Bunker! Also Congratulations to Frank Hibbard who will be the new Mayor of Clearwater. The people I feel sorry for are those in OSA Flag. This loss will be blamed on them. It will not be … [Read more...]
Clearwater Elections Today — Vote for Mark Bunker
If you are a resident of Clearwater, please exercise your right to vote today. As I have said since he announced his candidacy, I wholeheartedly support Mark Bunker for Seat 2 on the Clearwater City Council. Mark has changed the landscape of city politics in Clearwater by simply being in the race. He has forced those running for office to have to confront the issue of scientology and its impact on the local community. With no political history and no real "campaign" organized, it has been a word of mouth, grassroots effort. If you don't want scientology to hoodwink the city into the … [Read more...]
Clearwater City Elections — Scientology Endorsements
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...]
Clearwater City Commission Candidate Forum
Tonight is the official Candidates Forum for the City Commission hopefuls conducted by the city. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers in the Main Library at 100 N Osceola Ave. The city will broadcast the forum live on the streaming video page at http://bit.ly/ClearwaterCityCouncilMeetings and the city’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cityofclearwater/. It will also be shown on C-View TV, Clearwater’s cable access channel, on Spectrum (channel 638), Wow! (channel 15) and Frontier (channel 30). The election is a little more than one month away -- on March 17. … [Read more...]
Elect Mark Bunker
Please watch this short, self-explanatory video. It is important for Clearwater citizens to know that one candidate for the City Council is on the ballot and he is not afraid of scientology. Mark Bunker will represent the interests of the citizens of Clearwater. He is a smart, kind man with a backbone of steel. He will not be intimidated or cowed by bullies of any sort. Please take a moment to do what you can to support him. You don't need to be a citizen of Clearwater. Scientology wants to make Clearwater the first scientology city. Note, they say "First". If they are not stopped in … [Read more...]
Elect Mark Bunker
A very simple message for Monday morning. If you live in the local area, these yard signs are now available. I put this one in front of our house yesterday even though we don't live in Clearwater. Perhaps someone who does live there and can vote will see it. If you want one, or you want to help get Mark Bunker elected to the Clearwater City Council, contact him at his website Mark Bunker for Clearwater City Council. Stand up to bullies. Support Mark Bunker. … [Read more...]
Mark Bunker’s New Scientology Hit Squad
Clearly scientology is worried that Mark Bunker is proving to be a viable candidate for the Clearwater City Council. They are now resorting to one of their tried and true tactics against those who worry them the most (see below in this blogpost for earlier examples of the same playbook). Following is a series of short videos of a recent candidates forum. Scientology sent along a gaggle of hecklers to disrupt Mark's statements -- pursuant to the policies of L. Ron Hubbard. Unfortunately, there is no video showing their faces -- perhaps next time when both Aaron Smith-Levin and I … [Read more...]
Where Clearwater Candidates Stand on Scientology
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...]
The Economic Impact of Scientology on Clearwater
Scientology spews out paid ads proclaiming their wondrous contributions to society, most especially to Clearwater. I see these things on Twitter and when I respond they delete my responses. So, in keeping with the time-honored solution of “doing what Ron says,” I am putting my response on my own channel of communication where it cannot be altered (or deleted). Their tweet above makes the bold claim that scientology paid $3.1 million in property and tourist taxes in 2018. And that they "generate $1 billion impact into the local economy." As for the first claim -- this may well be … [Read more...]