Mark Bunker and I went to a meeting tonight of the Citizens for a Better Clearwater. We want to get more involved in our new community.

The main project this group has decided on at the moment is to fix up a little alley between Scientology's Coachman building (the one directly across the street from the Bank building at Cleveland and Ft.

Harrison) and the property just east of it. This seemed like a strange project to me.

The plan is to make a mural on the Coachman building, put plants and benches in there, and tear out the asphalt and put in bricks. Now here's where WE come in....

You can buy a brick, and put a message on it that will stay there forever! Right next to the Coachman building! Think of it! One brick with www.xenu.net, one with "remember Lisa McPherson", and so on! Of course we can't be goofy about it, but good messages can be right next to Scientology property for years to come!

The cost is like this:

1 line of text, up to 15 spaces (includes blank spaces) - $35
2 lines of text, up to 30 spaces - $45
3 lines of text, up to 45 spaces - $55
So think up a message that you want the citizens of Clearwater to see for many years to come right downtown! Send check or money order and your "personalized brick order form" to:

Citizens for a Better Clearwater
1811 N. Belcher Rd. I-2
Clearwater FL 33765
You need to include...

Date
Number of Bricks
Inscription for each brick
Your name
Your address
Your city, state, zip code
phone #
work #
Designate the payment for Cleveland Street Alley Park If you have questions, the group's website is www.clearwateryes.org, and their phone # is 727-799-1955
When a Scientology staffer used a syringe to force a mixture of aspirin, Benadryl and orange juice into McPherson's throat while others held her down, it was "spiritual sustenance," the church argues.

Citizens for a Better Clearwater is a group I'd never encountered before, but I guess they've been around quite a while. There seemed to be quite a few Scientologists there; Bennetta Slaughter, Susan?

Cook, Mary Story, plus a few other faces I recognized. Reverend Al Buttnor and Mary DeMoss came in just as most people were leaving.

Bennetta seemed to have a position of authority there.

The meeting was at an Italian Deli not far from the Trust, so Mark and I walked over there and arrived just as they were starting to talk about their upcoming projects. They are planning a cleanup day (though they didn't explain what they'd be cleaning up), a Food festival day, a Jazz festival, and a rennovation of an alley. An alley?? I thought, this is their big project??? They had a schematic of the alley, a sample mural they wanted to put on the Coachman building wall (Scientology graciously offered to prepare the wall for the artist), and a plan to raise the money - sell bricks for the pavement (see my other post about that).

I'd guess there were about 40 people there total, and everyone was pleasant and attentive.

Afterward we spoke with a nice older woman who was somewhat new to the city and we chatted about why downtown Clearwater remains somewhat dismal. We talked to a few other people, said hi to Rita Garvey (former mayor), and then left. As I was leaving I looked over my shoulder and spied Mary DeMoss in the back of the building. I told Mark that and of course he just had to go in to say hi to her. I was outside still and here comes Reverend Al Buttnor as well! So I went back inside too and saw Mary hiding behind Bennetta Slaughter so she didn't have to see the evil Mark. I walked back toward the exit again as did Mary, who shivered as she saw me. I said to her "it's just ice" indicating what was in my glass. She said "time to go, goodbye"

and tried to shoo me out the door. I took offense at this since this was supposed to be a public meeting. I asked "is this a meeting just for Scientologists? Do you shoo away non-Scientologists?" But she was just in a "shoo" mode, and I was leaving anyway.

Mark and I decided to go check out this alley and compare the schematic for the plans to the actual alley. This alley is right next to Scientology's Coachman Building on Cleveland Street. We were just trying to figure out things like whether the grates on the ground would have to be covered, how many bricks it would take, etc. I measured off the width of the alley with my feet going in a line (about 15 feet). Just then a Scientology security guy came up to us and said "you'e on private property." We figured this was bogus since it was an alley and we had in our hands a public plan to fix it up!

So after we argued that point he said he actually came over because he saw me kick the door to the Scientology property! Not only hadn't I kicked the door, but all I did was measure the alley with my feet! So we argued a bit and he left. We resumed our observation.

I had an idea for the mural that is to go on the Coachman side of the alley. There are 2 doors there with metal gates on them that make them look like prison cell doors. My thought was to paint in properly spaced identical doors so it looks like a row of prison cells. Then have a sign "No More RPF" above. Think it will fly?

Be sure to read my post about the bricks!

When a Scientology staffer used a syringe to force a mixture of aspirin, Benadryl and orange juice into McPherson's throat while others held her down, it was "spiritual sustenance," the church argues.

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