Karen#1
Well-known member
TONY ORTEGA
Excerpt:
[Dave is grateful for Allbritton, Mannino, and Cotton]
It was only an initial vote, and the Clearwater city council will have to go through it again in a couple of weeks, but last night, after hearing public testimony, the council voted 3 to 2 in favor of giving Scientology leader David Miscavige what he wants: shutting down public access to a portion of South Garden Avenue, which will produce a mega-block that will be the centerpiece of Scientology’s Vatican City in Florida.
Mayor Bruce Rector and council member Lina Teixeira were the two no votes, and both emphasized how much vacating a street like S. Garden Ave goes against everything the city has been trying to do to revitalize its downtown.
As Mayor Rector pointed out, they should be adding streets to bring more people downtown, not taking them away.
But after councilman David Allbritton had very obviously changed his position again (after briefly shocking everyone last year by siding with the no votes) it was a foregone conclusion that Miscavige was going to get his way.
Just to be sure, Scientology had more than twice as many members show up for the meeting last night to speak in support of the project (59 of them) as those who signed up to speak against it.
One of those who did speak against the project was Mark Bunker, who made a very astute observation.
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tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
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[/td]It was only an initial vote, and the Clearwater city council will have to go through it again in a couple of weeks, but last night, after hearing public testimony, the council voted 3 to 2 in favor of giving Scientology leader David Miscavige what he wants: shutting down public access to a portion of South Garden Avenue, which will produce a mega-block that will be the centerpiece of Scientology’s Vatican City in Florida.
Mayor Bruce Rector and council member Lina Teixeira were the two no votes, and both emphasized how much vacating a street like S. Garden Ave goes against everything the city has been trying to do to revitalize its downtown.
As Mayor Rector pointed out, they should be adding streets to bring more people downtown, not taking them away.
But after councilman David Allbritton had very obviously changed his position again (after briefly shocking everyone last year by siding with the no votes) it was a foregone conclusion that Miscavige was going to get his way.
Just to be sure, Scientology had more than twice as many members show up for the meeting last night to speak in support of the project (59 of them) as those who signed up to speak against it.
One of those who did speak against the project was Mark Bunker, who made a very astute observation.
READ MORE
Clearwater council votes 3-2 to approve street takeover by Scientology for its Vatican City
It was only an initial vote, and the Clearwater city council will have to go through it again in a couple of weeks, but last night, after hearing public testimony, the council voted 3 to 2 in favor of giving Scientology leader David Miscavige what he wants: shutting down public access to a...
tonyortega.substack.com
