Blog: Clearwater Politicians Weigh In - 2019-10-21

Clearwater Politicians Weigh In October 21, 2019, Mike Rinder, Something Can Be Done About It

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An interesting follow up piece by Tracey McManus quoting reaction from members of the Clearwater City Government to her bombshell expose from yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, the Clearwater politicos don't have much to offer in terms of how this happened to their city, what they think it means or more importantly, what they are going to do about it. They have been overwhelmed by a far more sophisticated and well-funded opponent that doesn't care whether they hurt anyone's feelings as long as they get their way. Politicians in Clearwater in the last couple of decades have been more concerned about offending scientology than doing what is good for their city.

Scientology responded to the article in typical fashion with a letter from Gary Soter. He is the LA lawyer who is the go-to guy for who will put his name on letters most lawyers would not send. It is strange that if scientology was not going to have an official from the organization make a comment, that they did not have any of their Clearwater lawyers — either from the Johnson Pope firm or Ed Armstrong or Katie Cole from Hill Ward Henderson — provide a response. They deal with the city on property matters all the time, in fact Ed Armstrong was originally hired by scientology precisely because this is his specialized field and his cozy relationships with city officials. Why no word from them?