Tracey McManus article on the Downtown Development Board should be sounding alarms for the citizens of Clearwater.
She explains:
Three of the five candidates running for three seats in the Oct. 8 election are downtown business owners who are also Scientology parishioners. Three of the seven current board members are also parishioners: Stu Sjouwerman, founder of cyber security firm KnowBe4, whose term ends this year and who is not running for re-election; Ray Cassano, owner of Station Square Realty, whose term ends in 2021; and Paris Morfopoulos, owner of One Stoppe Shoppe, who is running for another term.
The Downtown Development Board doesn’t have much power. It has a $267,000 operating budget, funded through a special tax on downtown property. They spend the money on things like festivals and holiday lighting.
But this modest, volunteer board could make history next month with what might be the first elected body comprised of a majority of members of the Church of Scientology, downtown’s largest property owner.
If Morfopolous wins re-election and candidates Shahab Emrani and Keanan Kintzel are elected, a majority of board members, four of seven, will be associated with Scientology for what appears to be the first time.
Tracey goes on to mention Mark Bunker:
At a development board meeting earlier this month, Mark Bunker, a filmmaker and longtime critic of Scientology who is also running for City Council, addressed Scientology’s role in a way that is rarely brought up in public meetings.
“If the problem downtown is Scientology, are Scientologists the answer?” Bunker said while commenting on the board’s agenda item to approve the slate of candidates. “People are largely afraid to come downtown. They don’t want their money going into Scientologists’ pockets. I don’t agree with that. I come downtown, I think everyone should come downtown. But there is that perception that has to be overcome.”
Tracey explains who can vote in this rather strange election. And it would appear scientologists are going to take control.
Only the representatives of 375 properties within the board’s boundaries, a jigsaw shaped area around downtown’s center, are eligible to vote this year, according to Anne Lopez, a specialist in the Community Redevelopment Agency, which oversees the board.
Representatives for 402 properties in the boundaries did not fill out voter registration cards and 128 parcels are not counted because they are owned by the government or are fully tax exempt.
While 72 percent of the 60 properties Scientology owns in Pinellas County are tax exempt for religious purposes, the church can cast 18 votes for properties it owns within the development board’s boundaries that are partially or fully subject to taxes.
Cassano has 58 of the 375 eligible votes for parcels he owns or represents. Fifty-three of those are for properties owned by companies run by himself with fellow Scientologist Emrani, a candidate in this election.
Scientology is following the mandates of L. Ron Hubbard. His policy for scientology states clearly:
“Bring the government and hostile philosophies or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals of scientology.”
This IS what they are working on. This is the word of God as far as scientologists are concerned.
While the City Council does not have enormous power, they do have some say in the activities of Clearwater. And they are elected by ALL the voters in the city, not a stacked deck of landowners in the downtown area.
Those unfamiliar with scientology policies often fall prey to their tactics. They become unwitting pawns in the games that scientology plays to influence their environment and gain “PR Area Control” and “Safe Points” as dictated by the writings of Hubbard.
This is why Mark Bunker is so important as a voice on the Clearwater City Council. He knows the game. He is aware of how they go about creating influence. And most of all, he understands that the ONLY thing scientology and scientologists are interested in is what is good for scientology.
If you want to assist Mark Bunker to be elected to the City Council, go to his website:
Best of luck, Mark. BTW, yo might mention on your page that Mike is local resident who cares about Clearwater,itself Also that you’re courageous enough to “beard the lion” (scientology) despite their attacks upon you.
FYI, here is the link I found that I think lists the dates of the elections. Please can you let me know if these dates are correct? Thank you.
Dang! I forgot to include the link:
https://www.votepinellas.com/Election-Information/Elections/Current-Upcoming-Elections
I can be such a dummy.
Don’t beat yourself up, Skyler. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s only in scientology that minor mistakes are often blown up into HIGH CRIMES and punished far in excess of any possible damage.
Hello Mark,
If you can read this post, please send me some email. I tried to find out the date of the election you are running in. I couldn’t find that date easily on your web site. But that is very probably my fault and not yours. I used Google and found the date March 19, 2019 as the most likely date of the Municipal Elections. Is that correct?
In any case, I signed up on your web site and left my email address for you. If you can send me an email, I would like to ask you a couple of questions and explain what I would like to do to help you.
I do not live in the USA but that doesn’t matter to me. My primary motivation is to take sides in the battle and to line up in opposition to The Scam. In other words, I want to line up together with you in the hope you will be able to win this election.
Please let me know? I’d like to send you a brief explanation by email. Thank you.
Best wishes Mark. I hope you win. I wish I lived near CW so that I could vote for you. But unfortunately, I am not an American citizen.
I will pay close attention to the results however. I hope like Hell the people who are eligible to vote will have seen Mike & Leah’s TV show or have heard or seen some of the news concerning the lawsuits filed against The Scam by people like Valerie Haney and all the ladies who were allegedly harmed by D. Masterson.
ETA: I will be so wonderful if you win on the basis that people are truly sick and tired of this monstrosity of a criminal scam.
If you don’t win, I will assume it is because the people who are eligible to vote are all mind controlled by this cult.
But, whatever the outcome of this election, please rest assured that every day the tide is turning. Every day, more and more people are becoming aware of the many criminal abuses allegedly committed by this scam. One way or another, their day is coming and there will be much celebrating, much singing and dancing on the day this scam finally crumbles into dust and all the guilty parties are brought to justice.
I’d like to know what Scientology’s plan is in regard to Clearwater. Isn’t it mostly a ghost town anyway?
Go, Mark!!
I was going to donate some money, but I’m not a US citizen. I really hope Mark does well in this campaign.
Are you prevented from donating if you are not a US citizen?
In most US elections in any state and at any level, yes.
Mike, are you joking?
No I wasn’t.
It hadn’t occurred to me that this restriction applies to a local election. I understand Federal election restrictions. Hadn’t occurred to me that someone could donate from Alaska but not from England in a city council election in a city in Clearwater.
But Mark explained the law to me.
Mike, a person from Alaska is forbidden by UK law from donating to elections and party’s in the U.K. …
Can’t donate using the name:
A. Nony Mous?
When Mark gets elected, will only the International Justice Chief be able to attend public meetings of the City Council? Mark is a certified known SP, which no Scientologist is allowed to speak to or associate with, except the IJC Mark Ellis, aka The Blimp on a Bike.
Perhaps the Council Chambers should have a sign-in sheet relieving them of responsibility should anyone suffer Fair Gaming for entering premises where known SPs hang out.
Hi Mike,
I don’t recall the names either but think Gabe Cazares was one. As mentioned, the doc containing it all is “gone” just like so, so many others including the one that laid out the whole immigration scam that organized the transfer of all non us staff from the ship. Saw it just before it got destroyed. But memory is still quite good.
Hi Mike,
Did you ever hear of the investigation the Flag GO did back in 75? It searched to find the “why” behind the degraded condition the downtown sector of Clearwater was. It concluded that city and county politicians had been pushing businesses to develop only in the outer periphery of the city/county. They disapproved attempts to develop in the downtown sector and this was all done to force property values down so when they bottomed out these politicians could swarm in and scoop them up for pennies on the dollar. The investigation concluded that since the CofS beat these politicians to the punch (so to speak) and bought Fort Harrison Hotel and the Clearwater Bank building at the already plummeted prices is the “why” behind their unrelenting attacks on the church back then. Wish I had a copy of the document but, oh so much was shredded after the raids. Still memory is clear and holds so, so much else.
Hey Glenn — yes, I do recall this brilliant demonstration of LRH Data Series Tech in application.
This was a known “truth” — though I don’t recall anyone specifically stating WHO the people were that were going to swoop in…
Glenn, the insane omitted in that “eval” was that property in downtown CW had been at rock bottom for a while because of the economy during the 70’a. That is WHY scamology purchased there. Because no one else wanted it. There were no investors waiting to swoop in. Investors don’t wait until prices climb to buy.
Wynski,
The GO investigation found that Clearwater city and Pinellas county politicians had been pushing businesses to develop only in the outer periphery of the city/county area. They disapproved attempts to develop in the downtown sector and this was all done so as to force property values down. Later these politicians could swarm in and scoop them up for pennies on the dollar. They were not waiting for prices to climb high which would be totally stupid of course.
But the more important aspect of the investigation was that it revealed the church must have really upset these politicians by buying up two of the best properties in downtown and so sort of beat them to the punch (or maybe if the tech is believed, missed their with holds) and this was the “why” (according to the cult) behind all the attacks orchestrated against the cult by the governments there.
Glenn, you didn’t read or understand what I wrote and you don’t understand commercial real estate.. The properties were ALREADY at that low price. (which is WHY scamology bought there) The properties were ALREADY zoned for the potential businesses. There was NOTHING the city council was DOING to STOP development.
Mark Bunker would be an excellent choice to help Clear Clearwater of Scientology insanity and criminality.
My sentiments exactly! Fuck Scientology!
Good luck to Mark Bunker and the citizens of Clearwater! Thank you to Mike Rinder for the update on Mark’s candidacy. Thank you also to Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, and A&E for educating people like me about Scientology. I had no idea what was going on in Scientology until I watched Leah and Mike’s show! Please make new episodes!
I joined with Mark on his website. It is important that he be elected. I will volunteer if he can use me.
George, I am sure he can use anyone who is willing to help.
Yes, I live about 32 miles away. I can drive in and do what I can.
I wish Mark luck. I’m afraid that Clearwater will soon be owned completely by Scientology – with the city government, their own police force, municipal courts, and all the rest at their disposal.
It’s sad for the non-Scientologists who live in this once-vibrant city, but I think Scientology is going to find that their takeover of Clearwater is not going to work long term if they drive the tax base out.
Fortunately, I think the CofS’ actual power is on the wane even as they reach a peak of property ownership. They seem stuck at a thousand or fewer public members in Clearwater, with people burning out and moving away as fast as others are attracted to their “mecca,” so they have little if any power in regular elections.
They have leveraged their money into some influence, perhaps particularly in the police department where employing lots of off-duty officers buys them some leverage. That’s why someone like Mark Bunker is needed, plus citizens themselves need to press all their elected representatives.
Continued scrutiny by the local press is also key, and has probably helped keep Scientology from making real inroads. With the current storm of bad publicity and legal actions, quite possibly to be followed by at least some criminal investigations over abuse, their reputation is at an all-time low and I think people generally know to be wary of them.
Mark, I hope you get elected. And I know Shahab Emroni. He is an OT VIII Scn. It is obvious the church is trying to get the board to be composed of ALL Scns. That is why we need Mark Bunker in there fighting.
I live over the bridge in Riverview, so obviously I can’t vote on this. But I will be sharing this blog post on Facebook for my friends who live in Clearwater to see if they can rally some support for Mark Bunker. Thanks for the heads up, Mike!
Thank you. This is exactly what is needed. Sharing as far and wide as possible…