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And then there were two...
Most of those who instigated or carried the torch for Clearwater’s sectarian fervor have since disappeared. And with good reason. Most were caught in acts of questionable legal, moral or ethical nature.
Where are they today?
Commissioner Richard Tenney became the center of a legislative ethics investigation when he deliberately failed to make financial disclosures for 1980. He was fined for his failure to open his books to public inspection and then fined thousands more for using his office for personal gain. Tenney quit as Commissioner and quietly faded from the Clearwater political scene.
James Calderbank likewise disappeared into obscurity after his arrest on a Clearwater public beach for engaging in public sex with a minor.
Former mayors Charles LeCher and Gabe Cazares lost their bids for further service in elected office on their “run Scientology out of Clearwater” platforms – and disappeared from the public arena.
Even one of the most shrill media voices – cited by the 11th Circuit in its decision – was ultimately silenced. The Clearwater Sun which, together with the St. Petersburg Times, had published article upon article attacking the Church, went bankrupt and folded.
Which leaves us with only two remaining die-hards from that era: Mayor Rita Garvey and Police Chief Sid Klein. And they can take the credit for Clearwater’s “historical repetition.”
Precisely why the Church was singled out for marginalization and discriminatory treatment in Clearwater from almost the day it arrived is a mystery long pondered by many. But whatever sparked that opposition, it has never died. In fact, far from abandoning their crusade to “destroy the organization” in the face of that U.S. Court of Appeals condemnation, those whom the court had censured have searched frantically for something – anything – to “get even” with the Scientologists.
To that end, consider the highly revelatory records of September 1996 telephone conversations between Clearwater police intelligence officer and Klein ally Tom Miller, and staff of the local Medical Examiner’s office. Those records show a police detective – who also happened to be a documented part of the undercover “Calzone Pizza” operation – seeking information on an 11-year-old accidental death. Why? Because it involved a Scientologist and “the press in Germany” had telephoned the officer to advise that “this case may be a homicide.”
Although the Medical Examiner’s office pulled the file and dismissed the suggestion as ludicrous, it seems Officer Miller spent a number of unspecified hours in the morgue – once more searching for something to fuel the corrupt crusade.
“Patently Offensive to the First Amendment” continued...
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