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us 13
---
title: "Understanding Scientology — us-13"
source: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-13.html
retrieved: 2026-06-28
---
Understanding Scientology, by Margery
Wakefield
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Chapter 13
## Not So Clear in Clearwater -- Scientology Takes Over a Town
... the Church of Scientology has engaged in a public
relations campaign to present itself to the citizens of Clearwater as a
legitimate, law-abiding, nonprofit religious organization while actually
operating ... in disregard and in violation of civil and criminal laws.
The actual conduct of the Church of Scientology adopted as written
corporate policy, includes the following: (1) burglary; (2) larceny; (3)
infiltration; (4) smear campaigns; (5) extortion; (6) blackmail; (7)
frame-ups; (8) deceptive sales and recruitment policies; (9) deceptive
uses of legal releases and bonds; (10) suppression of free speech and
association; (11) deviation from acceptable standards of medical
practice and educational requirements; (12) use of tax-exempt funds for
unlawful purposes; (13) overtly fraudulent policies designed to extract
large sums of money from unwitting and uninformed individuals; (14)
extortionate and/or improper use of highly personal information
fraudulently procured from individuals based on false promises of
confidentiality; (15) the use of unlawful and covertly harassive means
to prevent individuals who have been defrauded from obtaining legal
redress; (16) and the use of overtly fraudulent policies such as the
"minister's mock-up" and "religious image checksheet" to present a
"religious front" to the public while actually engaged in the business
of unlicensed psychotherapy for the purpose of making money.
-- Final Report to the Clearwater Hearings, 1983
By the autumn of 1975, Hubbard knew that the Sea Org's days at sea
had come to an end. The ports of the Caribbean were proving just as
unfriendly as those of the Mediterranean. The final straw came when the
Apollo was ordered out of the port of Curacao by the Dutch Prime
Minister, who referred to the Apollo as the "ship of fools."
It is also possible that Hubbard, still convalescing from his latest
and most serious heart attack, was himself feeling the need for a more
stable and permanent place to roost.
So, in October of 1975, the Sea Org came ashore. The crew was
divided into groups and traveled as inconspicuously as possible, one
group to New York, another to Washington, D.C. and a third group to
Miami, where they established "Flag Relay Offices" in the existing orgs.
A fourth group took up residence in a motel at Daytona Beach, Florida,
while scouts were sent to locate a suitable property for a "Flag Land
Base."
Hubbard, who traveled from the Bahamas with his aides bearing false
passports and a million dollars in cash, was temporarily situated in
another motel in Daytona, not far from his crew.
The scouts soon returned with good tidings: an ideal property had
been found in Clearwater, a sleepy tourist town on the west coast of
Florida.
The name "Clear"water would have a certain appeal to a
Scientologist! A decision was soon made to buy the old Ft. Harrison
Hotel in downtown Clearwater.
The owners of the hotel were approached by representatives of the
Southern Land Development and Leasing Corporation, who said they
represented United Churches of Florida who wished to buy the property.
The hotel was purchased for $2.3 million in cash, and a nearby bank
building was also purchased for $550,000 in cash.
Reporters asking who was behind Southern Land Development and United
Churches were told only that the purchases were made by a property
investor who wished to remain anonymous. United Churches, they were
told, was a non-profit organization dedicated to church unity, which
would be sponsoring a series of Sunday morning radio broadcasts by local
clergy.
The Sea Org began to occupy their new headquarters. Swarms of
uniformed Scientologists were suddenly visible on the streets of
downtown Clearwater as they moved between the two buildings with
cleaning and painting supplies.
An uneasy suspicion was beginning to grow regarding the new tenants
of the Ft. Harrison Hotel. Clearwater Mayor Gabe Cazares voiced the
perplexity felt by many when he stated, "I am discomfited by the
increasing visibility of security personnel, armed with billy clubs and
mace, employed by the United Churches of Florida. I am unable to
understand why this degree of security is required by a religious
organization." (1)
Meanwhile, two reporters, Bette Orsini of the St. Petersburg
Times and Mark Sableman of the Clearwater Sun were
beginning to discover that "Southern Land Development" and "United
Churches of Florida" didn't seem to exist. Nowhere was there a record of
either organization.
Bette Orsini of the St. Petersburg Times was the first to
make the connection to Scientology. But just as the paper was about to
print the truth, a Scientology spokesman from Los Angeles, Arthur Maren,
arrived in Clearwater and announced to the press that it was the