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The church selects Johnson Blakely to represent it on a number of local issues.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 2, 1999
CLEARWATER -- The Church of Scientology has hired Clearwater's most prominent and well-connected law firm to represent it on a wide range of issues, yet another indicator of Scientology's increasing acceptance into Clearwater's civic circles.
Church officials reached an agreement for legal services on Tuesday with the firm of Johnson Blakely Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns. The account will be handled by Ed Armstrong, a partner in the firm and one of Clearwater's leading real estate, land use and zoning attorneys.
Armstrong also is known in north Pinellas County as an astute, behind-the-scenes practitioner of local politics, one who is often consulted by city and county commission candidates.
In January, Armstrong, 42, will become chairman of the Clearwater Area Chamber of Commerce, a one-year volunteer post.
Armstrong said his firm has 36 lawyers and many areas of expertise -- including civil practice, taxation and governmental counseling -- and the church will have full access to all services.
Referring to Armstrong's knowledge of local political and civic affairs, Marty Rathbun, a top Scientology official, said the church also would draw on the firm's "innate ability to have a pulse on the entire community and their interaction with the community."
He said the church would use the firm, founded in 1973, as a local general counsel "as we become more integrated and more prominent" in Clearwater.
The church has never retained a Clearwater law firm for general legal services since it moved to the city in 1975. But the need for such a firm became evident, Rathbun said, as Scientology planned a $60-million to $90-million expansion downtown and increased its role in the city's redevelopment.
"We realized there's a lot of different issues and we realized we better be represented in Pinellas County, so we looked for the biggest and best in Pinellas County and that's who we came up with," Rathbun said.
Johnson Blakely is the largest law firm based in the county, with offices in downtown Clearwater, Tampa and Naples.
Armstrong said church officials first approached him about a month ago. He said it was a "logical outcome" for the largest property owner downtown to seek counsel from the city's largest law firm.
The firm's client list is a Who's Who of prominent local institutions, including Morton Plant Hospital, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Lokey Motor Co., the Belleview Biltmore Hotel and many others.
Armstrong said the firm does no criminal defense work and thus will not be involved in defending the church against felony criminal charges that it abused and improperly practiced medicine on one of its members. That member, Lisa McPherson, died in 1995 after 17 days in the care of Scientology staffers.
With a long history of rocky relations in Clearwater, the controversial church has for years been ostracized from political and civic affairs. But in the last two years, it has begun to carve out a place in Clearwater's public life, meeting frequently with City Manager Mike Roberto and becoming more active in downtown redevelopment.