Gabe Cazares
Encyclopedia
Gabriel "Gabe" Cazares was a mayor
of Clearwater, Florida
, a Pinellas County
commissioner, a civil rights
advocate
, and a noted critic of the Church of Scientology
. He died September 29, 2006 in Clearwater at the age of 86.
, as one of nine children. His family moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps
. He attended Los Angeles City College
on a track scholarship
, where he set a record for the junior college
2-mile run which stood for 11 years. He also attended Fresno State College and Texas Christian University
, where he earned his bachelor of arts
degree in sociology
, and the University of Maryland, College Park
. He received his master's degree
in business management from Jackson College in Honolulu, Hawaii
. Much of his college work was complete while he was in the military. He joined the Army Air Forces
in 1941 after the attacks on Pearl Harbor
and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel
.
In 1975, Cazares was elected mayor. His resounding victory was noteworthy because he was a Democrat
and an ethnic minority in a largely Republican
city then home to few Hispanic
s. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress
, in 1976 against U.S. Rep.
C. W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores
, and in 1986 against Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs
.
Cazares resigned as mayor in 1978, but was elected county commissioner in 1980. He held that post until Republican George Greer
defeated him in 1984. Greer would later receive national attention as the judge
in the controversial Terri Schiavo
case.
His 1998 complaint that Taco Bell
's television advertisement
s featuring a Spanish
speaking Chihuahua dog
were offensive and demeaning to Mexican
s and Mexican-Americans, gained attention in the newspapers.
In 2005 he criticized CNN
for cutting away from Florida Governor Jeb Bush
's speech just as he began to repeat a warning about Hurricane Wilma
in Spanish - after the warning in English
. Cazares called it dangerously insensitive to Florida
's large Spanish speaking population.
after the church decided in 1975 to move major operations into Clearwater. Cazares was suspicious of the group, which was buying property under the name "United Churches of Florida." The church leaders told Cazares that they were an ecumenical
group that planned to improve the ethics and morality in the Clearwater area. Cazares wondered why church folks from Los Angeles, California
would travel all the way to Florida to provide Clearwater with moral guidance. Cazares investigated the United Churches of Florida and discovered that the leaders of the group lied about their intentions. They told Cazares they were renting the historic Fort Harrison Hotel
from a group called Southern Land Development Leasing Corporation. Cazares discovered that both groups were controlled by Scientologists.
for one story exposing the alleged wrongdoings of the Church of Scientology. A 1977 FBI raid on Scientology headquarters uncovered internal documents marked "Top Secret" that referred to their operation to take over Clearwater as "Project Normandy
." The FBI uncovered information about "Operation Freakout
," an operation intended to get Scientology critic Paulette Cooper
committed to a mental hospital. The raid revealed "Operation Snow White
," where the Church of Scientology planned to infiltrate federal and state government offices in order to steal documents which reflected negatively on L. Ron Hubbard, or the Church of Scientology. The raid resulted in 11 top leaders of the church in jail. Cazares thought it odd that a religious group would use code names for a project to take control of a town, and called the project a "paramilitary operation by a terrorist group."
. At the Church of Scientology, federal investigators found internal memos outlining plans by church leaders to control public opinion in Clearwater, concoct a sex smear campaign against Mr. Cazares and infiltrate the local media and other institutions called the "Mayor Cazares Handling Project" and "Speedy Gonzalez." These Scientology documents also revealed that church members had staged a phony hit-and-run accident with Mr. Cazares in an attempt to discredit him.
Cazares and his wife sue
d the Church of Scientology for $1.5 million. The church settled with Cazares in 1986.
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...
, a Pinellas County
Pinellas County, Florida
Pinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. This county is contained entirely within the telephone area code 727, except for some sections of Oldsmar, which have the area code 813...
commissioner, a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
, and a noted critic of the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
. He died September 29, 2006 in Clearwater at the age of 86.
Early history
Gabriel "Gabe" Cazares was born to Mexican parents on 31 January 1920, in Alpine, TexasAlpine, Texas
Alpine is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,786 people at the 2000 census, and had increased to 5,905 by 2010.-History:...
, as one of nine children. His family moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
. He attended Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
on a track scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
, where he set a record for the junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
2-mile run which stood for 11 years. He also attended Fresno State College and Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
, where he earned his bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, and the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. He received his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in business management from Jackson College in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. Much of his college work was complete while he was in the military. He joined the Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
in 1941 after the attacks on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
.
Political career
Cazares retired from military service in 1966 to become a stockbroker. He moved to Clearwater, Florida soon afterwards.In 1975, Cazares was elected mayor. His resounding victory was noteworthy because he was a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and an ethnic minority in a largely Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
city then home to few Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
s. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, in 1976 against U.S. Rep.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
C. W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores
Indian Shores, Florida
Indian Shores is a town in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The town is a beach-front community situated on a barrier island west of Seminole, Florida. The population was 1,705 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 1,792....
, and in 1986 against Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 21,003 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 22,554....
.
Cazares resigned as mayor in 1978, but was elected county commissioner in 1980. He held that post until Republican George Greer
George Greer
George W. Greer was an American judge serving in the Pinellas-Pasco County Circuit Court, family law division, in Clearwater, Florida, who received national attention when he presided over the Terri Schiavo case....
defeated him in 1984. Greer would later receive national attention as the judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
in the controversial Terri Schiavo
Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
case.
His 1998 complaint that Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
's television advertisement
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
s featuring a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
speaking Chihuahua dog
Chihuahua (dog)
The ' is the smallest breed of dog and is so named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Chihuahuas come in a wide variety of sizes, head shapes, colors and coat lengths.-History:...
were offensive and demeaning to Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
s and Mexican-Americans, gained attention in the newspapers.
In 2005 he criticized CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
for cutting away from Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
's speech just as he began to repeat a warning about Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
in Spanish - after the warning in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Cazares called it dangerously insensitive to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
's large Spanish speaking population.
Investigates church
Cazares became an outspoken critic of ScientologyScientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
after the church decided in 1975 to move major operations into Clearwater. Cazares was suspicious of the group, which was buying property under the name "United Churches of Florida." The church leaders told Cazares that they were an ecumenical
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
group that planned to improve the ethics and morality in the Clearwater area. Cazares wondered why church folks from Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
would travel all the way to Florida to provide Clearwater with moral guidance. Cazares investigated the United Churches of Florida and discovered that the leaders of the group lied about their intentions. They told Cazares they were renting the historic Fort Harrison Hotel
Fort Harrison Hotel
The Fort Harrison Hotel serves as the flagship building of the Flag Land Base, the Church of Scientology's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida...
from a group called Southern Land Development Leasing Corporation. Cazares discovered that both groups were controlled by Scientologists.
Sued by Church of Scientology
Cazares was sued by the Church of Scientology for $1 million after he said that the city was being taken over. Cazares' suspicions about the group were investigated by local newspapers. On 3 November 1979, the Clearwater Sun ran a headline "Scientologists plot city takeover" and later stories said that the Scientologists had plans to take over the world. The St. Petersburg Times won a Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for one story exposing the alleged wrongdoings of the Church of Scientology. A 1977 FBI raid on Scientology headquarters uncovered internal documents marked "Top Secret" that referred to their operation to take over Clearwater as "Project Normandy
Project Normandy
Project Normandy is the code name for a top secret Church of Scientology operation wherein the church documented its plans to take over the city of Clearwater, Florida by infiltrating government offices and media centers.-History:...
." The FBI uncovered information about "Operation Freakout
Operation Freakout
Operation Freakout, also known as Operation PC Freakout, was a Church of Scientology covert plan intended to have the US author and journalist Paulette Cooper imprisoned or committed to a mental institution...
," an operation intended to get Scientology critic Paulette Cooper
Paulette Cooper
Paulette Marcia Cooper is an American author who is best known for activism against the Church of Scientology and the harassment she suffered as a result. Cooper's books have sold close to a half a million copies.-Early life:...
committed to a mental hospital. The raid revealed "Operation Snow White
Operation Snow White
Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's name for a conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard...
," where the Church of Scientology planned to infiltrate federal and state government offices in order to steal documents which reflected negatively on L. Ron Hubbard, or the Church of Scientology. The raid resulted in 11 top leaders of the church in jail. Cazares thought it odd that a religious group would use code names for a project to take control of a town, and called the project a "paramilitary operation by a terrorist group."
Endures harassment
The Church of Scientology planned to smear Cazares. Cazares questioned the church's motives, its purchases of downtown property using fictitious names, and the way its security guards carried Billy clubs and maceMace (spray)
Chemical Mace is a tear gas in the form of an aerosol spray which propels a lachrymatory agent mixed with a volatile solvent. It is sometimes used as a self-defense device...
. At the Church of Scientology, federal investigators found internal memos outlining plans by church leaders to control public opinion in Clearwater, concoct a sex smear campaign against Mr. Cazares and infiltrate the local media and other institutions called the "Mayor Cazares Handling Project" and "Speedy Gonzalez." These Scientology documents also revealed that church members had staged a phony hit-and-run accident with Mr. Cazares in an attempt to discredit him.
Cazares and his wife sue
Sue
Sue or SUE may refer to:* Door County Cherryland Airport in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, USA* The action of filing a lawsuit.* Subsurface Utility Engineering* .sue, alternative name for ARC -Places:...
d the Church of Scientology for $1.5 million. The church settled with Cazares in 1986.
External links
- Scientology: The Clearwater Conspiracy, Gabe Cazares featured on 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, 1980. - Clearwater City Commission Meeting, Cazares speaks before Clearwater, Florida City Commission, February 17, 2000
- Scientology - Above the law?, Gabe Cazares interviewed (starts at 26:30) in French TV documentary