Sam Wilson speaking on a Clearwater street

Clearwater City Council · Seat 5

Whose side is Sam Wilson on? A Scientology minister says he’s “on our side.”

Read the Creative Loafing report ↗

The future of downtown Clearwater is on the line. Voters deserve the truth about Sam Wilson. Help us get it out.

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The Facts

The Church of Scientology's Flag Building in downtown Clearwater

Left: David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology. Right: the Church’s Flag Building in downtown Clearwater.

“On our side.”

“Wilson has also received a public endorsement from Penny Jones, a self-proclaimed ‘Minister of the Church of Scientology.’ In a now-deleted Facebook post supporting Wilson, Jones encouraged Clearwater residents to vote for him, describing him as someone who is ‘on our side.’”Creative Loafing, July 29, 2026

The Church of Scientology and its affiliated entities already own roughly 200 properties in and around downtown Clearwater. Its ministers know who is on their side. Clearwater voters should too.

Read the full report ↗

Councilmember David Allbritton at a City Council meeting — David Allbritton

Councilmember Ryan Cotton at a City Council meeting — Ryan Cotton

Councilmember Mike Mannino at a City Council meeting — Mike Mannino

They keep giving away our streets.

Three City Council members who recently voted to give the Church of Scientology and a Scientology-tied developer four downtown public rights-of-way all endorse Sam Wilson.

Residents fought back with #SaveTheGarden, which organizers call the largest petition drive in Clearwater’s history. Across three separate petition drives, they collected more than 30,000 signatures opposing the street giveaways.

Instead of seeking to understand residents’ concerns, these council members cast the organizers as religious bigots and ignored them:

“I have always viewed the Garden Street initiative as a bigoted hate group whose only function is to stop a vacation of Right of Way for Scientology.”Councilmember David Allbritton, email obtained through a public records request, July 20, 2026

“[Save The Garden] resembles a modern-day crusade against a religious organization more than an effort to reflect Christ in our community. And that’s disappointing.”Councilmember Ryan Cotton, from the dais, May 21, 2026

“I’m unwilling to go down a path of religious discrimination... misinformation... fanning the flames of division.”Councilmember Mike Mannino, from the dais, City Council meetings of June 4 and June 18, 2026

It’s our property. The people deserve a voice.

The September vote, reported by WUSF ↗

Save the Garden volunteers turning in stacks of signed petitions

Save the Garden volunteers turning in signed petitions.

Clearwater signed. Sam refused.

More than 30,000 signatures across three petition drives asked for one thing: let Clearwater voters decide before more public streets are handed over.

Will Sam Wilson fight to protect downtown from the ever-expanding influence of Scientology? Or will he be one more “yes” vote to hand over our public streets?

He has already given his answer. When residents asked him to sign the petition for a public vote, Sam Wilson refused. According to Save the Garden’s candidate scorecard, he is the only City Council candidate who refused to sign.

Asked how he would have voted on the Garden Avenue land transfer, Wilson said he hadn’t done the same research as the sitting council members and declined to take a side.

Read more from AuditLA ↗ Refused See the candidate scorecard ↗

Downtown Clearwater belongs to the people.

If Sam Wilson won’t stand up to the Church of Scientology, how can the residents of Clearwater expect him to stand up for us?

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About Us

In the 2026 Clearwater City Council election, a newly formed Miami-based political committee called Clearwater Strong went after Bianca Latvala, a critic of the city’s street giveaways to Scientology, by paying for flyers promoting her opponent, Jared Leone, in the Seat 4 race. The Tampa Bay Times traced Clearwater Strong’s money to Miami committees that had received about $89,000 from nine donors with ties to the Church of Scientology. It worked: Leone won Seat 4.

Leone says he has no affiliation with the group, and the church says it did not direct its members’ donations.

Concerned Clearwater residents formed Clearwater First to show voters which candidates Scientology’s members are backing.

Tampa Bay Times: “Committee supporting Clearwater candidate has ties to Scientologists” ↗