There has been considerable media attention to the church opposition to the Clearwater Aquarium development on the site right behind the Fort Harrison. Fox News weighed in. Then the Tampa Bay Times and then the TBT wrote an editorial.
The church cites a Florida State University (FSU) study showing the economic impact they have in the local community and somehow “reason” that the Aquarium would be a bad idea. They also cite to an Urban Land Institute (ULI) study commissioned by the city to puff up their importance (as they said the city and the church should “work together”) though it is a little curious as the ULI were VERY much in favor of the downtown aquarium development.
Frankly, it is hard to imagine ANYTHING that Clearwater could do to help revitalize the downtown, and change it’s image OTHER than highlight this aquarium. The ONLY thing Clearwater is known for apart from being the cult headquarters of scientology is Winter and the aquarium, made famous by the movie Dolphin Tale and its sequel.
One of our Special Correspondents obtained a complete copy of the FSU report which you can see here:
FINAL FSU – Economic Impact Study 09-15-14
This is a classic piece of scientology hoodwinking. They PAY for a study of their economic impact — based on figures THEY provide, which they insist at the outset are to be kept confidential. The church cherry picks the “surveys” that they helpfully offer to distribute and collect for the people doing the study. Figures are then extrapolated by the research group which are then used by the church to try to convince Clearwater residents what a boon they are to the community “because FSU says so.” I know how this is done, along with Ben Shaw of the church I arranged the first one of these studies to be done by John Qualls, an economist from St. Louis, in 1999, to attempt to salve the open wounds caused by Lisa McPherson’s death.
Thus, if you read the study, you will see some interesting annotations as to the SOURCES of the information they relied on.
In 2013 over 9,000 parishioners visited the Church from around the world for Scientology religious services, many more than once, and for an average 36 days per visit. Additionally, about 10,000 Scientology parishioners currently reside in the Tampa Bay area.
The source for these “facts” is cited as: Personal Communication, Ms. Pat Harney, Church Public Affairs Director, February 4, 2014.
One can assume that the cite to “personal communication” protects this information from being disclosed. Though why the fundamental “facts” upon which the entire study is premised should be “personal communication” is strange in itself. Of course, the reason for this is that these figures are made up. There are not 10,000 scientologists in the local community. But this is what the church has been telling the media for years, so they could not now give figures that are less than that for their “economic study.” And no doubt the “visitors” include all OUTER ORG trainees, who are sent with NO MONEY and spend NO TIME doing anything other than studying 17 hours a day every day.
Though it is also worth noting that FSU mentions: As a point of reference: In 2013, over 950,000 tourists visited the Clearwater area last year. Thus the church’s 9,000 visitors comprise less than 1% of the total visitors to Clearwater (though as you will see, the church attempts to proclaim the massive impact they have with their “influx” of visitors).
They cite all the economic information they got about how much money the church spends to: Personal communication, Ms. Sharey Wang, February 14, 2014. See: www.nsbn.com NSBN is the long time CSI accounting firm on Los Angeles formerly known as Nanas Sterns. Why THIS information is “personal” is more than a little strange. An accounting firm sending information at the request of the church to a public university paid to do a study that then becomes the subject of a massive PR campaign by the church is hardly “personal.”
Even worse than this, they based their extrapolations on “surveys” the church provided:
For the visitors survey, there were a total of 9,148 visitors to the Church in 2013, with 265 surveys collected.
For the residents survey, there were a total of 9,763 Church residents in the area, with 271 surveys collected.
The surveys were NOT random but were carefully screened before being turned over. With 18,911 people under their direct control, it is impossible they could not come up with a better statistical sampling than 527 (about 2.7%). If the church told everyone to fill out a survey, they would have had about 50% of the local scientologists turn them in and 75% of all “visitors.” And those are conservative figures. Clearly FSU did NOT understand the amount of control the church exerts over its members.
And for the local businesses, the information was even more suspect:
In 2013, there were approximately 262 businesses owned by Scientologists in Clearwater and immediate surroundings and Clearwater neighboring communities.
While the Church contacted the majority of businesses for the purpose of collecting data on business demographics and expenditures, only 33 Scientologist-owned businesses provided responses to the survey.
The initial Church business list was based on a Church business association directory, provided by Ms. Pat Harney, Public Affairs Director, Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization.
The Church provided a list of 262 unique businesses derived from several Church business association lists.\
No surprise. FSU accepted EVERYTHING FROM THE CHURCH.
If you look at the study itself, it tells you the story at a glance — it LOOKS like a church promo piece, with pages of glamour shots of “Flag.” And the reason they only got 33 survey responses is that this is ALL THE CHURCH COULD FIND that were “suitable” for the study. There are not 262 scientology owned businesses in Clearwater. There are not even 100. Unless you count things like “self-employed” artist as a business. Or side of the road rug sales on the weekends as a business.
And thus, the conclusions from this study are skewed beyond any recognition.
FSU should be embarrassed to have been suckered so badly by the church. This should serve as a case study on how to do such a study wrongly.
But of course, as was the intention at the outset, the study then became the subject of a 50 page Freedom magazine, shouting the importance and value of scientology in Clearwater, based on the “FSU study.” You can find the magazine here.
This entire magazine is a puff piece that proclaims the good fortune for the City of Clearwater that they have been embraced by the church of scientology.
I have excerpted some passages from the magazine (in italics) below, starting with their self-congratulatory “editorial” — now citing the figures THEY gave to FSU to extrapolate as the “FSU study findings.”
The roughly 13,000 Scientologists who live in the Tampa Bay area and the 9,000 plus and growing Church members who visit each year are part of the rich weave that is the fabric of life in Clearwater and throughout the Tampa Bay area.
The last seven years have seen phenomenal expansion of Scientology—across the globe and in Clearwater. About 2,300 staff members now work at Flag, and over 10,000 parishioners are full-time residents in the area. More than 9,000 Scientologists—from Europe, Asia, South and Central America, Africa, Australia, and across the United States, Canada and Mexico—traveled to Clearwater in 2013 for stays generally much longer than normal tourism; the number of visitors is accelerating.
Those recent numbers were the backbone of a study completed in July 2014 by the Florida State University Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis (CEFA). In looking at such economic impact reports, it’s natural to zero in on the big numbers, and CEFA amply documented those:
The total 2013 economic impact of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater and surrounding areas was $917 million. The Church is financially the single largest private presence in Clearwater.
The Church annually sustains 7,514 jobs in the area. Those are good jobs, producing annual payrolls of about $338 million, or about $45,000 per job.
Underscoring the economic study is another report that zeros in on downtown Clearwater. The Urban Land Institute, based in Washington, D.C., took a hard look at Clearwater during the summer and released its final report in September. “The Church of Scientology can assist the City in a number of ways,” the ULI report stated. Noting that it’s imperative for the City to create a master plan, ULI commented: “By participating in the implementation of the revised downtown redevelopment, the Church of Scientology will help the City make informed decisions. …This will lead to better outcomes for all downtown stakeholders.”
Still, what if the Church left? The CEFA report didn’t calculate that, but two 2007 economic impact studies made the point. Benecke Economics stated: “If the Church were to unplug, or disinvest, in the City of Clearwater it would cause irreparable damage to the city.” And Micro Economics Ltd. reported that if the Church left “the depressed area activity would tend to feed upon itself, resulting in a downward spiral of economic decay” similar to “many ‘rust belt’ cities in the industrial Midwest.”
The Church came, built, invested and flourished—and created jobs and prosperity throughout the area. Had the Church never arrived, or had left, no one could have filled the economic vacuum. One of the best qualities of an institutional presence in a community is stability. That’s a huge, solid rock for prosperity for the whole community. This issue of Freedom documents the numbers, true. But articles put faces on those numbers—stories about the work and accomplishments of the many Scientologists who are your neighbors in Clearwater.
The Church of Scientology offers its strength and growth as a gift to the community. Clearwater is the winner.
— The Editors
There is a lot more interesting information buried in the turgid prose:
THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY’S ANNUAL economic impact on the Clearwater area is almost $1 billion, according to a new study conducted by Florida State University’s Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis (CEFA).
The financial analysis provides the most authoritative insight to date on both the Church itself as well as statistics associated with about 23,000 Scientologists who live in the Tampa Bay area or visited the Church in Clearwater in the last year.
You may recall there were, according to Pat Harney, 9700 local scientology residents. Plus there are, according to the church, 2300 staff. That somehow equates to 13,000 in scientology math. Then add to that the 9100 visitors and that of course now totals 23,000. None of these figures are accurate, but they cannot just add them up right to come to 21,000, instead everything is “rounded up” to add a couple of thousand.
But as you can see, the “authoritative analysis” provided by the “statistics” is now attributed to the Florida State University’s Center for Economic Forecasting — the patsies in this puppet show.
The Church has commissioned similar reports in the past—most recently in 2007. But with the inauguration of the Scientology cathedral, the Flag Building, in November 2013, the Church has entered a new phase of international expansion. That prompted Church leaders to seek a new and far more comprehensive analysis, and thus they commissioned FSU’s team of economists.
As amply documented in the CEFA study, the annual impact of the Church is enormous: $916,692,624 in 2013.
Like most institutions—say, hospitals and colleges—much of the Church’s financial impact is dedicated to supporting its own programs. But those programs involve thousands of people coming to the Church for spiritual guidance and who reside and work in the greater Tampa Bay area.
That section in red is VERY significant.
The revenues of FLAG are between $150 and $200 million a year — being sucked OUT of the local economy (as the vast majority of this is sent to California and is NOT invested in the local community). The IAS is about $50 million a year from Clearwater, also being sucked OUT of the economy and ALL OF IT sent to California. These are figures NOT mentioned at all in the report.
Economists from Florida State University examined massive amounts of financial records, along with surveys and interviews, to profile the impact of the Church of Scientology and its members in Clearwater, Florida.
Businesses created by Scientologists have revenues of $287,919,612, money that is used to hire employees, and purchase materials and expertise.
This is really a sad joke. It was probably arrived at by taking Postcard Mania, the Delphi Academy and Clearwater Academy, NTC and MGE as 5 “typical” scientology businesses and rounding up a few others to fill out the surveys and then multiplying it to reach the total revenue of 262 businesses (or the church now calls this “300”). But even though this is clearly contrived (only being able to survey 33 businesses TOTAL), let’s put this figure in context.
The revenues of FLAG are between 150 and 200 million a year — being sucked OUT of the local economy (as it is all sent to California). The IAS is about $50 million a year from Clearwater, also being sucked OUT of the economy and sent to California.
And another way of looking at it. The US average revenue of a car dealership is $38.3 million. This means the total revenue of the “300” scientology businesses that are owned by the 9700 local scientologists is equivalent to 7.5 average car dealers.
And FSU cites as their “Examples of Community Service”, handing out church anti-drug literature and “human rights” literature.
Nothing like a little self-serving “community service.”
Put another way, the Church and its members create and support 7,514 jobs each year in the Tampa Bay area—providing paychecks to families that total $337,795,577. And those are good jobs—on average about $45,000 a year, according to the FSU economists.
No, that is actually according to the CHURCH, who provided ALL the figures the entire extrapolation was based on.
The CEFA report itemizes the assets Scientologists bring to Clearwater. It’s an affluent group, with a median income of $63,675, much of which is the underpinning for businesses, schools, charities and entertainment in the area. Church residents spend $100,344,512 annually on housing, $57,906,206 on household expenses, $39,544,304 on shopping.
When you cherry pick the “survey” responses, this is what you get. Total manipulation.
Scientology’s total annual impact on the Tampa Bay area—almost $1 billion—has grown each year in excess of 10 percent.
A VERY far cry from the “47X” and “straight up and vertical” claims made by David Miscavige from the stage at every event and dished out to the media whenever they can get some sort of “response” from the church on any story.
That means stability for the community. When the national real estate recession hammered Florida, the Church from 2007 to 2013 spent $252,260,468 on construction, restoration and renovation projects—meaning a lot of Tampa Bay area companies and their employees found work.
That is an ENORMOUS amount of money, most of which went to OUTSIDE firms — the general contractor on the SP Building was not local. The architects were not local. The furnishings were not purchased locally.And in the last year, this figure has been reduced by a factor of 100. They MAY have spent a few million on the Coachman building, but the amounts spent on construction are negligible now. Though this was a large proportion of the “annual economic impact” the church brings to Clearwater cited in the study. bY the time the study was completed and published, the Coachman had already been completed, and there is NOTHING else happening construction wise.
Freedom then goes on to then arrogantly assert that they actually spend more than the City of Clearwater:
An even more interesting comparison: The Church of Scientology direct expenditures in the Tampa Bay area ($485 million) are almost 30 percent higher than the City’s spending for all its programs ($375 million), according to the municipality’s 2013-14 budget. The two entities have relative parity in financial clout—with the Church apparently having the edge.
This is SO typical of scientology. Now they are MORE important than the City of Clearwater — who of course should be grovelling at the feet of the church…
Referring to the Church’s impact, the FSU economists’ report states: “It is expected that those current numbers will increase given the recent opening of the Flag Building,” the Church’s Clearwater cathedral, on Nov. 17, 2013. There already has been a rapid increase in the number of Scientologist visitors to the city. About 783 Scientologists arrived in June 2014, for example, a significant 14 percent surge from the 685 visitors who arrived in June 2013.
Oh dear. Insignificant to anyone outside the church, but very significant to those who watch the church closely — the SP building has resulted in a “14 percent jump” in business. For $200 million? And David Miscavige proclaims there is 47X expansion?
With the religion’s economic impact growing by about $62 million a year since 2007, according to CEFA, the Church easily will top the $1 billion mark in a matter of months—if it hasn’t done so already.
No, it hasn’t. Remember, no more $250 million on “construction” that is now down to virtually zero?
Here is one of the graphics included in Freedom magazine. Though the FSU study noted that the vast majority of visitors stay in church hotels (and eat in church restaurants), the church now presents this as pumping this money “into the community” somehow. I bet the “shopping” also includes purchases at the “Flag bookstore”
Of course, this would not be an authentic church publication without some pontificating from Dear Leader:
David Miscavige, the Church’s ecclesiastical leader, expresses a clear certainty about the future of both the Church and the city:
“Over the past two decades, the Church has proven its dedication to improving Clearwater. Our commitment is demonstrated in our Church facilities, which are emblems of beauty for the entire city. We are also relentless in our passion to contribute and improve our environment, as evidenced by the recent construction of a public walking park on Fort Harrison Avenue.
“The past seven years have seen the completion of massive Church development projects. On every construction project, we have strived to hire local industry so that the Tampa Bay area economy benefits from our expansion. We further support and work with a diverse range of benevolent and humanitarian organizations. And, our parishioners are dedicated to a multitude of volunteer and charity initiatives that uplift the quality of life for all citizens.
One lie piled on top of another.
In truth, EVERYTHING to “improve Clearwater” is only for the purpose of forwarding the church’s aims.
The buildings are beautiful. But they are NOT designed for the well-being of Clearwater — hell, residents cannot even go into them!
Wander through the “walking park” (that is actually to allow access between the Oak Cove and the SP building without having to go through the lobby of the Ft Harrison) and you will be on camera and if you are there too long, will be approached by a security guard asking you what you are doing.
And it is simply not true that they have strived to hire local industry for their construction.
The volunteer and charity activities in the local area are strictly for the purpose of gaining PR for the church, and in any event, if it IS really true that there are 23,000 scientologists in the local community at any given time (about 20% of the TOTAL population of Clearwater) why isn’t there a LOT more visible and documentable good work and evidence of the enormous charitable generosity in the community?
“The Church’s foundation in Clearwater is a solid and enduring resource for the community,” Mr. Miscavige concluded, “and we remain dedicated to a constructive and cooperative relationship with the city, so that we may work together in creating a flourishing and prospering Clearwater for the benefit of all citizens.”
Remember, this is the same guy who ordered trees chopped down in violation of city ordinances and puts up signs on his tent in violation of other ordinances and refused to remove them.
A “cooperative relationship” in his estimation is when the city acquiesces to what he wants. Period.
All you need to do to confirm for yourself that this study and Freedom‘s proclamations are utter bullshit is simply use your own eyes.
Walk through Clearwater. It’s a corpse. And by opposing the Aquarium, scientology wants to keep it that way.
Do you know how I can find a list of scientologist owned businesses?
They used to publish a “WISE Directory.” Not sure they have put one out in some time, and now you have to be a “member” to access it on their website (which defeats the purpose of the “directory”). There is also a scientologist publication called WhoWhatWhere that used to list scientologist owned businesses, not sure if that still exists or not.
Seems scientologists don’t want people to know their businesses are scientologist owned these days.
Here is a link to the last directory I could find. 2015 WhoWhatWhere https://en.calameo.com/read/000377220fd443f19da5a
I just came from the Clearwater Commission Meeting where I took my three minutes to talk about this study and the lobbying against the aquarium. I urged the mayor and commissioners to come take a look at this post and to keep Mike on speed dial.
I made a FOIA request to FSU some time back for all the background data and haven’t heard anything from them. I think they are supposed to respond within two weeks. I’ll check with them again.
Thanks Mark. I know some other people have forwarded the information about this post to the Mayor, City Attorney and Commissioners, so maybe it will eventually sink in. Appreciate what you do Mark.
Thank you for posting the email address of the researchers. I have sent each of them the following email:
I resigned from Scientology four years ago after being a member for over thirty years.
As a result I have not been allowed to see or speak to my daughter since even though she lives and works but ten minutes from me.
I was not able to see my son either but he has since also resigned as of three years ago. Since he resigned he has not been able to see or talk to his Scientology sister, Scientology mother, any of his Scientology life long friends and his Scientology wife divorced him without ever seeing or talking to him.
My son was part of Scientology’s security team in Clearwater which included watching over celebrities such as John Travolta. My son was physically abused by his supervisor on several occasions. One time he was beaten unconscious for “fraternizing” with Travolta. Yes, you read that right, beaten unconscious.
In a few weeks my son will be new father and myself a first time grandfather. My son’s Scientology mother and Scientology sister know about the coming birth of their granddaughter and niece because the news has been delivered to them through non-Scientology relatives yet still they have not even been allowed to send a note of congratulations and will never be allowed to see their granddaughter/niece.
This is no fantasy. This is reality. It is happening right now, right here.
This is the real impact of Scientology and my story is but one of hundreds if not thousands.
Kevin Tighe
Dunedin, FL
Great letter Kevin. Thank you for writing that. I hope it makes them stand up and take notice and investigate the church.
Kevin,
Thanks for taking the time to write that heart felt letter. I am really glad to hear your son is out and that you can all create a life with family and friends. Very well done!
Is scientology in the health facilities also like hospitals used as policy
This exposure certainly will be (or has already been) made known to the City of Clearwater.
Thus the bogus “study” and the underhanded dealings of Scientology (OSA) will be in plain sight.
This will make any further “study” or “statistic” of Scientology unbelievable at first sight until actually proven otherwise. Supporting Scientology will become more and more like a hot potato nobody wants anything to do with (regardless of the money they offer) as anybodies reputation is at risk by mere association.
Um….. if anyone in Clearwater really is curious as to how an aquarium could impact their local economy, check out the stats of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California:
http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_13538392
Case Closed.
I wonder if a corrupt legal (thinking Dandar, today) and politiical environment was a factor in establishing in Clearwater or just an unexpected benefit.
Even the baseball Team Tampa Bay Rays who play in St. Pete can’t be supported. They had the worst attendance in all of baseball this year, and will likely re-locate. As for any Scientologist living in that neck of the woods- I would think you are better at moving at least one hour away. Most Sea Org Regges don’t drive, so they won’t be bombarding your property.
Mike,
Surely the Chuch should be supporting a large aquarium, especially as it would give their whales a nice place to “Kool” off between IAS gang Reg sessions?
As for the Church quoting figure like 10,000 residents of Scn public, this comes under the heading of
“Lies”, “Damn Lies”, and “Statistics”!
The math does not add up does it?
How can you have all these public and then have weekly stats at flag so low and all public on Class IV course and actions?
But then the Dwarf only has to appear and bless the cringing and fawning psychophants and tell them what they want to hear and it all keeps trundling along.
Still it keeps the Dwarf in smoked salmon and “shorts”.
Great post Mike. Karen#1 makes it pretty clear in this video why the church doesn’t want wogs wandering around. Thanks Karen ! http://www.scientology-cult.com/karen-de-la-carriere-blog/808-church-of-scientology-in-fear-of-qexternal-influencesq.html
I think one would be surprised how many new WOG businesses would open up in downtown Clearwater if Scientology were to leave. I have no doubt that a lot of potential business owners want nothing to do with downtown Clearwater because they do not want to be neighbors to a large cult with many buildings.
I agree Beryl. It’s the creepy factor.
By the way, I read a very interesting and well done research article about what constitutes “creepy”. Large numbers of people were questioned on the subject and the resulting definition was “the inability to recognize social cues and respond appropriately”. It’s easy to see how removing oneself from normal social interaction could result in this.
Nice Mike! Thank you Special Correspondent.
Mike, this is a fantastic post. Thank you.
Just for clarification, in the first paragraph you mention it as a USF study, and for the remainder of the story it’s a FSU story. Minor typo, that’s all….fortunately USF hasn’t been sucked into Miscavige’s trap yet.
Sorry, corrected now…
Mike, Do you know if the election yesterday resulted in more or less support for the “church”, and more or less support for the Aquarium?
Last year it received good support.
Aquarium wins in Clearwater November 6, 2013, Charlie Frago, Tampa Bay Times
Mike, I just want to thank you so much for your constant alertness and willingness to expose the truth.
I hope the so-called professionals at FSU have the courage to admit they have duped and to do some honest research. They could easily regain their lost respect if they do.
+ all the posters here.
I once met an ex-con at a pub years ago and ended up having a beer with him, Nice sort of guy I suppose but quite an ‘in your face’ type of personality and he wasn’t the least bit frazzled by anything that I could make out, He had recently done a couple of years for a mixed bag of crimes, including fraud. But what he called prison surprised me, he kept referring to as the “puzzle.” I asked him why he called it that. He replied because it’s a puzzle how you get out of it. Justice and doing the right thing have little if anything to do with it. How well you know the system and the people in it are important but when to grease the right hand or use leverage can make a positive move (sometimes it makes it worse) within the puzzle. However, get in all right and your out!
PR and BS aren’t exclusive to the Cof$.
I read the antics of the Cof$ and get the same sort of feeling I did talking to that guy. With all the truth and exposure the Cof$ has received over the years it is still there and noticeably gets worse and justice is yet to have an impact on it enough for it to stop.
Don’t expect too much from local govt, that universe has it’s own mixed bag of influences. Money buys a lot of blind eyes but I sure hope to heck something in amongst this latest exposure is an important part of the puzzle of their demise.
I just wonder what is going to be the catalyst piece that collapses that house of cards.
Good work on the exposure Mike.
Thanks Mike. Your insight is invaluable!
Mike,
Great analysis, as usual.
Scientology is like Monsanto, “the most evil corporation on Earth”.
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2014/06/22/the-complete-history-of-monsanto-the-wor
Just as its evil cousin, Scientology leaves a path of destruction in its wake, barren soil in the form of vacant buildings and towns, broken families, bankrupted businesses, toxic and poisoned lives.
This cult is a travesty of religion.
Well I would stay away from the OMITTED DATA myself if I was in D.M.s
lovely expensive John Lobb shoes.
4 out of 5 people in Clearwater absolutely hate Scientology.
Flag imports labor from third world countries and Russia that work 18 hours 7 days a week for as low as 8 dollars a week. They are not exactly purchasing Condos and Ferrai’s and going to movies.( a feature film at the cinema is 12 dollars !, If you are paid 4 dollars less than that a week, odds are you don’t go to the movies)
” 4 out of 5 people in Clearwater absolutely hate Scientology.”
Geeeze Jose, when did the stats crash like that. I thought it was 5 out of 5?
Wait,..What? I thought it was 6 out of 5! I think the entire Tampa Bay area hates the cult, Coop. And they have good reason to do so.
Coop don’t leave those of us outside of Clearwater who hate them too. We aren’t included in the inner-city stat, but we’re roaring loud and clear with some very good reasons of our own.
LOL! I wonder how many people you would have to ask on the street in any given town about their opinion of the Cult of Fleeceology in order to get one positive comment. It would be fun to do but I have to confess ….. I would not waste my time. Nor would I want anyone else to either!
Coop,
Interesting you should say that about asking people their opinion of Scientology. I have (reluctantly) told people I was once in Scientology. The response is always similar to – “How could someone like YOU get involved with something like that?” Never ONCE has anyone said anything positive about Scientology or asked me what Scientology is. Everyone I have told has heard about it and it’s always a negative reaction. I don’t live in a big city. I live in a small town in the least populous state in the US.
Coop,
I was in CW in 2008 and this was a survey that was taken then buried
at sea at midnight. Survey takers were scattered to deserted islands and the Himalayas.
I seem to remember reading that in some places Orgs can no longer get local contractors to work for them. Local contractors don’t want to do business with COS because they get burned financially. Has this happened in Clearwater.
Standard policies of paying late, if at all?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9uXd_71yrM
I’m sure that all those mailbox companies at the One Stop Shoppe on Cleveland add up to quite a total.
You know it!
So typical of the “church”. All one needs to do is walk through downtown Clearwater to see all the empty and derelict shops and the absence of life. Occasionally you will see some Scientology staff member scurrying down the sidewalk with worn shoes and pocket change to his /her name. Downtown Clearwater
looks like a deadly life sucking disease hit it. In a way , that’s exactly what did happen.
Right Mat. I think Clearwater is empty because the Scn presence there is so creepy that it repels. The church is creating the creepy. There are only a few haggard looking staff walking around looking at the ground with zero joy of life. The church is worried about the aquarium unmocking their creepy because it is a CONTROL FREAK. Too much infiltration of normal people into Clearwater will introduce an element that cannot be controlled and it will evaporate their creepy.
The figure of 10,000 is from the full lists of both Flag and Tampa org and combining them. So firstly the list is for Tampa Bay- not Clearwater. So thats a Big Lie. The list includes every person who has every purchased a book from the Tampa org, these are people who are absolutely not scientologists but who came into contact with scientology and rejected it. So thats another Big Lie.
This is so typical – people who brought a book but never did anything else are being counted as Scientologists! but actually they are people who looked at scientology and decided it was not for them.
The FSU staff could have done an accurate report if they demanded a copy of the names and addresses. Even just a print out to look at. They would have seen immediately that the addresses were for all over Tampa Bay, not Clearwater. Then could have just spent 10 minutes and randomly called people on the list and asked them if they were members of the Scientology religion. 90% of the people called would have said no. But if they had demanded to see the lists, OSA would have cancelled the study and found someone else to do it. Whats the betting that OSA asked a bunch of places to do the study and FSU were the only ones who would do a big fancey study based on some vomit that came out of OSAs mouth.
The FSU numnuts threw scientific process out the window when they accept scientologys lies without any effort to fact check. I betcha if someone were to check out past FSU impact reports it would turn up a ton of paid puff pieces. They probably do a lot of work for politiicians.
OAA — exactly correct. They should have done this with the list of “scientologists” AND with the list of “scientology businesses”. Any attempt to verify the figures provided by the church would instantly reveal the lies.
What is the Church going to do if the Aquarium goes ahead? Sue the City of Clearwater? Unlikely. Discovery in a Church v. Clearwater lawsuit would be fascinating. The Church’s economic studies would be found to be as credible as Narconon’s 76% success rate claims. Further the Church’s claims regarding employee spending would not only be debunked, but there would be global headlines when it was documented that the Church paid its people less per hour than workers earn in illegal sweatshops. Would the Church move if the Aquarium was built? Not hardly. The City of Clearwater has been, and is being, scammed by a paper tiger. The City should stop placating a mirage and build the Aquarium.
This is a little off topic, but you raise an interesting point as far as staff spending goes. Even if I took away rent and groceries, I still would spend more than twenty dollars a week on basic hygiene and transportation. And forget about kids. How in the world do these people survive? Are they all independently wealthy?
Wow, excellent breakdown and analysis, Mike. I hope other media outlets pick up on this story and give it the attention it deserves.
The church has truly turned lying into an art form. Then again, they have been doing it for so long now. It is actually the only thing they genuinely excel at. Just because the church and its parishioners refuse to LOOK at the real state of affairs doesn’t mean no one else will.
The church is taking on more and more qualities of the Mafia. Just as the Mafia sought to legitimize itself by investing in respectable enterprise, the church infiltrates, perverts and corrupts an otherwise reputable institution to forward its agenda.
They are toxic. Anything of value, such as personal integrity, truth, honesty, reputation, goodwill are at risk when you dance with this devil. Just ask the FSU, who are probably negotiating the return of their academic soul.
I actually do not have issues with the Scientology Bubble ®, with its false realities, it’s lies, it’s abuse and deception. It is their own space, and its inhabitants apparently do not mind. What I do take issue on, is when they attempt to expand the bubble to include the general population and the civic institutions of Clearwater. Their ignorance or naivety will certainly be their downfall.
What many people fail to grasp is that the church is parasitic by nature. It finds a host (e.g. Clearwater), insinuates itself into the fabric, then slowly sucks the life-force, and as it does the host becomes weaker and weaker, never realizing it is slowly dying, and can even think the parasite is benevolent, until it is too late and ultimately succumbs. This same tactic is used on individuals. Given the opportunity, the church will “consume” all that is valuable (e.g. money, time, children), and leave a broken husk in it’s wake.
Once again, statpush, well said.
I have to agree somewhat with Whitestar also. This church will go down for crimes it has been committing for a very long time. It is a sad state when justice takes so long, but it will happen and I think it will happen with reckless abandon once blood starts being let. Then there will be a pile on of attorneys. I wish I could say I have enough faith in my fellow man to bring this church or David Miscavige down on principles.
Thank you, Mke, for breaking down FSU’s numbers and the church’s lies. It’s astounding how much this church lies.
McCarran, we can only hope for the lawyers to circle. That may be the most humane end of the cult. At least it will be swift. In the meantime, you and I and everyone else on this blog will continue to fight the good fight 🙂
Sad to say but you are so right Statpush. The church/parasite will suck the host dry and then all that will be left are the husk of the broken one. Our children are being used up and sucked dry and then will be discarded like a snake discards its skin.
+100 Cindy
We’re tracking, Cindy. Some people may think I’m joking, but this is the conclusion I’ve come to after spending 30 years in the cult, including a stint on staff. CoS takes, and gives little in return – ON ALL LEVELS.
Organizationally, the church has been established on communist principles. Look what happened to the USSR, the people were bled dry, while the State benefits. How is the church any different? As much as Hubbard railed against the Communist, he adopted their methods of controlling the masses.
Well said Statpush, just like the mafia. It’s unbelievable the way the radical church rapes and pillages it’s own parishioners, and THEN, pretends it’s benefitting the economy or giving to charities. HAHAHAHAHA!! That’s a good one. These people receiving this “data” provided by the church don’t comprehend the extent to which the radical church will lie in order to hide it’s real activities. The radical church has become some kind of mutant caricature of itself.
Forgive me for being stupid but what is the church’s primary reason for opposing the aquarium?
Wouldn’t something like an aquarium bring some fresh faces into town, and possibly – if the church is lucky – some new “bodies into the shop?”
the news reports cover their supposed reasons (contrived “issues” like parking), the real reasons are covered in the earlier posting I did on this which is linked at the very end of the article.
Actually, if Flag were to ‘unplug’ (and OMG, how many people have been waiting for that to happen?), it would send a cosmic earthquake through the scientology universe from which scn would never recover. Clearwater should build the Aquarium, if only to make this happen sooner.
” Clearwater should build the Aquarium”
Scientology has already built it. David Miscavige is the main attraction in the bowl!
Yo Dave,
We are all watching you swim around in your own shit. Have a nice day good buddy!
I expect the clam universe to eventually relocate all its headquarters and management to Clearwater. The cost of living is much lower then California and they have bought off enough the local government to do what ever they want. The clams would make huge bucks selling off the Los Angles property and have enough left over to buy the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Heat.
I can see the auditing endorsements from the team members now…..’I used to drop passes, buy now, thanks to Lron and solid months of can holding, I can catch anything….’
Great job of analysis, Mike. That BS meter just went off the dial on this one. Guess the “church” of Scientology doesn’t want anything that will bring more of those “wogs” into town to dilute the little insular community they want Clearwater to be. You know, those “wogs”? …..The people that they are supposed to be enlightening by delivering Scientology services to? If they were sincere in their mission of improving people’s lives with Scientology, their Division 6s (the dissemination divisions) would be just loving the idea of something that attracts more new people into town. But in reality, they just want to be a big fish in a small pond, and to hell with the city of Clearwater improving.
Is there a chance that the Church does not want increased tourism because it would have to turn away potential hotel guests for not being the “right” religion? Also, imagine how hard it will for OSA to keep track of the thousands of tourists that wander over to the Church buildings to rubber neck the local, famous cult. With thousands of tourists swarming downtown, there may even be more than a few Church members that will get lost in that crowd in order to escape.
this the way it works in this country. FSU like most things are for sale. it’s the same tactics and methods used everyday by corporate america. how do you think the NFL comes up with the same bogus impact studies touting tax payer funded stadiums……..same lies bought from the same people for the same reasons.
almost every commercial on television resembles a scientology promo.we love you, you are like “family”(puke), we’re here to help,….we will rip you off and use you up as much as we can and never leave you alone if we can’t…………that is scientology, that is america and most first world nations today.
the fact that something like scientology has been so hard to bring to justice tells you that justice is bought and sold……….if scientology is ever brought to justice, i guarantee you that when you look at what finally did it, it will be nothing more than what they have always been guilty of, you’ll say “they could have nailed them years ago on the same charges!”.
that would say that it wasn’t the reasons for their convictions that brought them to justice, but merely the will to do so finality developed for whatever reason.
an honest mayor, an honest senator or congressman can take on something like scientology, but corrupt ones can’t because they are guilty of their own crimes and can’t afford to be scrutinized. fair game works when there are in FACT crimes on the other side.
all the people who ever take on scientology are always clean enough. one has to at least wonder why some other people who are suppose to go after organizations like that, don’t.
red tape my ass, when the powers that be want to take you down they do so, suddenly there is no red tape.
on one hand we’ll say “all politicians are corrupt yet on the other we expect them not o act like it.
cognitive dissonance is the real problem that afflicts society at large, when that is solved groups like scientology will evaporate, until then, it will be the same old story.
FSU is for sale, clearwater should know that……….how can we know and they not?
+1000 White Star!
Unfortunately, Clearwater is probably also for sale. The only thing being negotiated here is the price for the trick.
Right on White Star and Cooper. OSA, under orders from DM, gets dirt on all so that if anyone tries to bring them down, they blackmail them. If that doesn’t work, they buy them. ““all politicians are corrupt yet on the other hand, we expect them not to act like it.”
As soon as I heard Florida State University was doing this study for the Church of S, I knew right then it was bullshit, FSU is infamous for protecting it’s rapist football player star’s, and amongst other crimes. They and the C of S are prefect for each other.
The FSU has a complaints hotline at 855-231-7511, I haven’t been able to find the usual committee for research ethics. Might be useful to let the FSU know their reputation is affected by this kind of study. It is just plain bad research – and it’s publicised widely, so they should care, I think. Wouldn’t want my kids to study where cult propaganda is manufactured.
Hey Huginn, I called but got a recording saying something about me hire by “your organization.”
Link to FSU Ethics hotline page. You can make a secure online report. That’s the number they list there, but this is the page.
https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/32441/index.html
Sorry as a European, I didn’t call 🙂 But as Val provided the link, that’ll work. Thanks Val!
Typical Scientology “operation.” Sucker some third party (no pun intended) to validate Scientology by feeding them a bunch of bullshit, so that Scientology can quote the third party’s findings as somehow authoritative. But in actuality it’s just their own bullshit spewed out of somebody else’s mouth.
Scientology is forever trying to gain acceptance, and Scientologists are forever looking for it (“ooooh, some celeb just said something favorable about Narconon!”). Scientologists are forever looking for a fast buck (“Prosperity Seminar!! Learn to make money so you can do your bridge!!!).
Gawd, what a shitty hamster wheel to waste a life on.
Sucker some third party (no pun intended) to validate Scientology by feeding them a bunch of bullshit, so that Scientology can quote the third party’s findings as somehow authoritative. But in actuality it’s just their own bullshit spewed out of somebody else’s mouth.
Perfect one sentence summation of the “PR strategy” of scientology.
And you can imagine Dear Leader rocked back in his chair explaining to the losers assembled before him:
” Now that is how you handle PR you CICSMFAHs!! ”
Now that Mike has once again shined the light of truth on HIM, HE has to find someone to pin the debacle on. Maybe He will heap it on Jenny after her performance at LAX.
Gosh, I sure hope so, Coop! Massive amounts. BUT, I’m sure Clearwater knows the score. It’s FSU that we need to educate.
Coop:
Jenny who? ;0) No one named Jenny ever worked for the COS as far as David Miscavige knows, you must be mistaken.
Lets for a moment assume there were 9,000 visitors in a year. For the sake of numbers divide it by 12, this gives you an average of 750 parishioners a month. If this is the case, how come Flag’s stats are emergency and practically going nowhere?
Fine, 23,000 Tampa Bay area residents are parishioners…hum, so, again, how come the stats are crashing.
Typical of the leader, lie to cover up your crimes. Sooner or later FSU is going to have to hide and experienced the shame it deserves for having published such unproven reports.
Lets just hope the Clearwater residents are not as blind as the reported 1,000s of parishioners.
Good Gawd, Mike! Great job man. Wading and sifting through that avalanche of cooked up blurb!. Now THAT, (your effort) is what I think of as a stellar stat! 🙂 The whole staccato of intentionally overwhelming, self congratulatory, fraudulent rubbish, ultimately achieves nothing more than filling the paper waste recycling bin!
Through his selfless, dedicated efforts to uplift the City of Clearwater, I hereby nominate David Miscavige for the award of Grandus Wasteus Overwhelmingus Via Conduited Anal Excreta Nausious!
Scientology has been taking Clearwater for suckers since they crawled ashore 75 million years ago in Florida. Will the hoodwinkery continue? Is the city gullible, or corrupt, or just plain indifferent?
I imagine an attraction downtown that brings in random tourists would be a security nightmare for the organization so paranoid it has 100 cameras trained on public areas downtown.
When we went to CW for Flag Opening . CW downtown was a joke. A new restaurant opened was expecting the 10 million ( As first reported by the ” Church ” ) out of towners and international people showing up.
Absolutely empty all night.( New Restaurant) Have gone 3-4 times since and I have never seen a customer inside. You would think that with all these numbers as Mike has produced that there would be hustle and bustle ..With long lines outside restaurants and taxis whizzing by .. ha
What a f*ckin joke.
” FSU should be embarrassed to have been suckered so badly by the church. This should serve as a case study on how to do such a study wrongly. ”
Mike I hope to God that you send them this blog post. I am angered and sickened.
We went to a Scn owned restaurant. ( We didn’t know) We went during dinner time on a Saturday night. It was in a very convenient spot. Empty. One additional table came in half way through our meal, but they appeared to be family members. That was it for the entire time we stayed there ( About 1 1/2) hrs.
Starbucks might as well close. Seriously now that they have their own coffee shop Scn. used to go there. Trust me I know. I went one time and was refused the restroom key because I was ” Incognito/ NOT Anon mask.. Just sunglasses, wig and hat. ( Flag Down).. Rude Scn. behind counter.
You can shoot a canon through CW any given day and no one would notice. Hotels? Puhhhhhlease.. We critics have long memories. I remember the notification ( I think I read it here) that all who need to stay over night or any length of time MUST stay at a Scn Hotel. NOT a local hotel.. A Scn. Hotel.
They couldn’t even stay at a local Scn residence. How Whack is that? And they have the Nerve to put such a huge chunk in their stupid stats..
Shopping and Entertainment? .. bawhahaha. They don’t have a pot to piss in. I obviously could go and on..I’m sorry I am really pissed off.
We also visited their little shop that sells books, cards etc. OK again we were the only ones in there! We never saw people strolling down the sidewalk ..or through THEIR park..nothin.
PS.. I take it back. We were of course tailed by their security.. Who was so tired by the time we snooped around that he asked us if we were almost finished..ha.. We felt sorry for him ( He was yawnnnnnnnning) so we said, ” Yeah.. we’re done. Go home and get some sleep” Of course we only told him 20x to JUST blow.
+ 1. Magnificent post bb. And…I really like it when you’re really pissed off! I hope to see more post from you with that bent. Carry on…
Thank you Dude and deElizabethan..
Nothing pushes my buttons more than the Absurdity associated with the Looney Tunes pretending to be a ” Church.”
Come on Play nice Clearwater.. You know those Scn are building up the economy. Oh and while you are at it we have on the table a change of name for OUR..errr YOUR beautiful city..
Suckertown has a nice ring to it don’t cha think? If you agree we will throw in a nice Personality Test for ya..
Babybunker, you are right on… I live in CW and drive through the city often, also walk on occasion.
Scientology would naturally oppose the aquarium. “other fish to fry” (Sorry)
You should be sorry! 🙂
You really can’t lie about your Potemkin Village to real city officials who have real responsibilities in the real world to real people.
Excellent article, Mike.
Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Alanzo
What an embarassment to academia. Agree MIke that this exercise is instructive in how organisations can manipulate public perceptions by using the ‘independent’ study tick of approval using a report that was anything but independent. Shame on FSU.
Mike,
Copies of this piece should go to everyone in government in Clearwater. I’m sending it to the Mayor and the Chamber of Commerce.
What do you say, guys? Print some off and send them where they’ll do some good. Team Aquarium!
Absolutely Aqua.. Great idea..
I’m right there with you, Aqua! But, can we take it one step further? Let’s send the true numbers to Florida State University! This outstanding university should be informed how they were snookered.
I hope everyone who reads this sends a copy to the FSU. Excellent analysis!
For convenience, here are the report’s “authors” contact info:
Julie Harrington, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Florida State University, FSU Research Complex, 3200 Commonwealth Blvd. Tallahassee, Fl. 32303. Tel. (850) 644-7357. Email: jharrington@cefa.fsu.edu
Martijn Niekus, Drs.
Senior Researcher, Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Florida State University, FSU Research Complex, 3200 Commonwealth Blvd. Tallahassee, Fl. 32303. Tel. (850) 645-0191. Email: mniekus@cefa.fsu.edu
David Glassner
Researcher, Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Florida State University, FSU Research Complex, 3200 Commonwealth Blvd. Tallahassee, Fl. 32303. Tel. (850) 645-4295. Email: dglassner@cefa.fsu.edu
Can you please re-post your comment at Tony’s website OR allow me to do so.
I would like encourage everyone here and as well as on Tony’s site to send an email to authors (FSU) and demand an explanation.
FSU is my alma mater and I hate to see FSU destroy their good name and reputation.
Some additional email addresses are at http://president.fsu.edu/Senior-Staff.
Brilliant breakdown Mike – excellent work. I do hope the relevant city officials take good note of this.
It occurred to me while reading through that all the figures the cult could probably actually easily be achieving them if only they just stopped squirreling, delivered what was promised and not sec-checked everyone to death, abolished the IAS and invested in their most valuable resource – the staff – instead of treating them like slaves. It’s a similar situation with the Ship – the locals HATE having it in port; I didn’t understand why until I went there as a public and was simply not allowed on shore – there was always some arbitrary ridiculous target to meet, or hard-sell briefing. Consequently I never got to spend any money in Aruba, Curacao or anywhere else. Even though the entire time I was there – nearly three weeks – the Ship was only actually at sea for two days.
Martin: Like Miscavige pontificated in Mike’s column, He encouraged you to spend your money locally. How more local can you get when you were staying on a ship where they were begging $$ from you all day and all night?
Fantastic article Mike. You put a lot of work into meticulously breaking down and blowing the lid off the Church’s BS once again. On a microcosm scale South Africa they also make (very feeble) attempts at showing how the Church is “doing good works in the community” as a reason for why they should be respected/supported.
What angers me is that they use parishioner money to conduct these manipulated “studies” and surveys etc. Who the hell gave them the right to use the money for this purpose? They are supposed to be using money paid to them for further expansion and delivery of Scientology (and I don’t mean building Ideal Morgues either). What are they doing getting involved in local “Impact Studies” and the like to prove why they should have a say or vote on whether there should/shouldn’t be an aquarium in Clearwater? The mind boggles.
Great work Mike. Adding the names of the authors and researchers so they can be more easily connected to their trash report and pathetic methodologies. They should be utterly embarrassed for so cheaply selling their “credentials” and reputation.
Julie Harrington, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Florida State University, FSU
Martijn Niekus, Drs.
Senior Researcher, Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Florida State University, FSU Research Complex
David Glassner
Researcher, Center for Economic Forecasting
Yes, David Glassner, Martijn Niekus, Julie Harrington should be ashamed of selling out and allowing their good names to go on a report that is so obviously contrived and untrue. I knew money could buy most things, but now with the church it buys fake statistics, glowing reports, and utter untrue bullshit.
Cindy Shelley and Lurkness: What makes you think these people had good names? There are lots of university people, most of them not tenured professors but underpaid workhorses that do the research. They are all for sale in such circumstances to keep the system going. The report may or may not be peer reviewed before it is sent out with a School, Department or Institute head’s scanned in signature to add instant “credilbility”.
Fascinating post and excellent job of dissecting this Economic Impact Study from Mike. When I was at university I did a directed study paper on them for a course. It was apparent they were often far from the objective cases they pretended to be but written in a hurry for a fixed fee for a client who wanted to make his/her case. What stunned me was that they often didn’t state their assumptions or offer comments on the reliability of what “facts” were being used. Garbage in Garbage out .
Interesting, tonyb. It’s really no different than the report on a major TV network reporting the it’s an expanding church. Then states how it built X number of churches just last year. The inference to the viewing public immediately is that membership must be expanding then because why would a group build new buildings if they didn’t need the space.
Church of Lies.
This ‘impact study’ is just a brag sheet for the CO$ and is to be used for getting more concessions out of the city. While Mike has clearly destroyed any attempt at accuracy in the report, such ‘confabulation’ {lies in the wog world} are the norm for such studies.
The Univ gets some money, the ‘researchers’ get some too and the students who did the actual work get to put it on their resume and get credit for it. They also learned the first lesson of sponsored research, give the client the conclusion they asked for. That lesson alone is the basis for most government and private industry ‘studies’.
The mayor and other city employees {not the police department, they are already on the payroll of the CO$} are now going to be faced with some extra pressure to do what DM wants. But only just a little more pressure, anyone who really read the numbers knew that the report was bullshit. I expect the wog citizens of Clearwater to yawn and totally ignore that report. I do hope the elected officials do the same.
Downtown Clearwater is dead, it just won’t go on the cart.