Church of Scientology the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase. Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless. In the years since its foundation, the Flag Land Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has
Scientology Missions International the agreement with CSI, SMI has entered various license agreements with Scientology Missions around the world over the use of the Scientology trademarks and service marks. In addition to its corporate status, SMI is also a part of the ecclesiastical command structure of the international Church of Scientology management. Integrated within the mother church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology International, SMI is one of 8 sub-units and networks, which form the so-called "Flag Command Bureaux" (FCB). The Scientology management booklet "The Command Channels of Scientology" states the following about the FCB: "[...] The Flag Command Bureaux, so named from