Clearwater, Florida’s City Attorney David Margolis earlier this month submitted his letter of resignation – effective April 13, but de facto mid-February to cash out accrued vacation time – amid what the Tampa Bay Times reports is an increasingly acrimonious fight between municipal officials and the Church of Scientology, the demented sci-fi cult who control virtually every property surrounding its global headquarters in the city’s downtown. It all stems from a really freaking small issue – ownership of a block of a street that stands in the way of a planned event space – which has drawn state Attorney General James Uthmeier in on Scientology’s side against city hall.
Who have yet to be accused by the “church” of being controlled by the immortal galactic overlord Xenu but it still makes for a funny headline so why the hell not, especially when Uthmeier’s needling Mayor Bruce Rector over them potentially discriminating against a “religion.” What makes this even more freaking ridiculous is that it’s not even like the city’s refusing to give up the portion of South Garden Avenue the Scientologists want to build over, they just want the freaks to pay for it.
Referring to the May letter Uthmeier had sent city hall, Margolis last month told a council meeting that “the attorney general has always had the right upon the request of any elected official to give those opinions, it’s just that, candidly, before our current attorney general, it never happened.”
Meaning not even Pam Bondi or Ashley Moody would get into this kind of stupid shit.