www.sptimes.com
A permit mix-up results in Scientology and its protesters both claiming the
right to use a sidewalk near the Fort Harrison Hotel this weekend.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 1998
CLEARWATER -- In what is fast becoming a local tradition, the Church of
Scientology and its critics again are trying to outmaneuver each other in
preparation for a series of anti-Scientology pickets this weekend in
downtown.
The result in recent days has been an unusual game of chess played on the
concrete squares of downtown's public sidewalks.
The match began last month when the church convinced city and state officials
to close two sidewalks used in past years by Scientology critics. The
sidewalks are in front of Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel on both sides of
S Fort Harrison Avenue.
One of them was torn up and barricaded this week by church staffers, even
though Scientology critics had reserved the sidewalk in April with a city
"special events" permit. City officials were hard pressed Wednesday
to explain how the mix-up occurred.
"It shows the church has a fear of public criticism," said Jeff
Jacobsen, an organizer of the pickets, which will protest Scientology's
treatment of Lisa McPherson, who died in 1995 after a 17-day isolation in
the Fort Harrison Hotel.
Mike Rinder, a top Scientology official, said the church requested the
sidewalk closings to make room for holiday decoration work on the hotel
and construction work on the church's massive new building across the
street.
City officials said such permits are routine for major construction projects.
However, Rinder also said the closings were a way to put some distance
between church members and the protesters.
"They want to try to goad someone into creating some sort of incident,
and we're avoiding any kind of confrontation with them," he said
Wednesday afternoon. "They're upset about that? Sorry."
Under the church's permit, the east sidewalk across from the Fort Harrison
Hotel will be closed for months, perhaps years, until the new building is
finished. The west sidewalk will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays
and Sundays, and from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays.
Those times overlap the scheduled afternoon pickets on Saturday and Sunday,
and a candlelight vigil in McPherson's memory Saturday night.
Late Wednesday, however, the duel took another twist when Jacobsen acquired a
city permit shortly before the close of business at City Hall.
The permit allows the Scientology critics to start their picket Saturday and
Sunday after the church's permit expires at 3 p.m. and before it resumes at
6:30 p.m.
It also allows the critics to march on the sidewalk directly in front of the
Fort Harrison Hotel instead of across the street as was originally planned.
"If they had just left us alone, we'd be on the other side of the
street," Jacobsen said. "Now we're on their side. They always
have to be in the attack mode."
A surprised Rinder said Wednesday evening that he would talk with city
officials today. He said he was under the impression the church's permit
lasted the entire weekend with no breaks.
He said the church will be installing its decorations late Saturday afternoon
when the critics are now permitted to picket. "It just isn't going to
work," Rinder said.
Clearwater police officials said they will be posting extra officers to
monitor the protests. Jacobsen said the candlelight vigil, originally
planned for the torn-up sidewalk, will be held at the same time in front
of Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church, just north of the Fort Harrison
Hotel.
About 50 pickets from various parts of the country are expected to show,
said Jacobsen, who is from Phoenix.
It is the fourth picket of its kind in downtown Clearwater, and the Church
of Scientology has never allowed them to be held without a challenge.
In March 1997, hundreds of Scientology parishioners surrounded and confronted
the pickets and blocked their signs. They did the same during the evening
vigil and blew out the demonstrators' candles.
Last December, Scientology pressured city officials to close the sidewalk to
the pickets, saying they were prone to violence. When city officials did not
relent, an estimated 3,000 Scientologists mounted an angry march against the
Clearwater Police Department.
Rinder said no such countermeasures are planned for this weekend.
© Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
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