Gabe Cazares

Gabriel Cazares, born on January 31, 1920, served as mayor of Clearwater, Florida, from 1975 to 1978, and later as a Pinellas County commissioner, emerging as a civil rights advocate and vocal critic of the Church of Scientology.

He attended Fresno State College, Texas Christian University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and the University of Maryland, College Park, before obtaining a master's degree in business management from Jackson College in Honolulu.

Joining the Army Air Forces three weeks after the Pearl Harbor attacks in 1941, he rose to lieutenant colonel and completed much of his education during military service, retiring in 1966 to work as a stockbroker before relocating to Clearwater.

Upon settling in Clearwater, Gabe Cazares became a social activist, championing desegregation and better housing for minorities, which propelled his entry into politics. Elected mayor in 1975 by a narrow margin of fewer than 500 votes as a Democrat and Hispanic in a predominantly Republican city with few Latinos, he focused on issues affecting the elderly and promoted greater transparency at City Hall despite frequent clashes with fellow commissioners and local Democratic leaders.

Full Name	Gabe Cazares
Gender	Male
Occupation	Politician
Date of Birth	31-January-1920 (86 years)
Birth Year	1920
Birth Location	Alpine, Texas, United States
Death Time	29-September-2006
Death Location	Clearwater, Florida

He resigned in 1978 and won a county commissioner seat in 1980, holding it until his 1984 defeat by Republican George Greer, later known for the Terri Schiavo case; Cazares also ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1976 against C.W. Bill Young and in 1986 against Mike Bilirakis.

His tenure as mayor coincided with the Church of Scientology's secretive 1975 influx into Clearwater, purchasing properties like the Fort Harrison Hotel under aliases such as United Churches of Florida, which he investigated after growing suspicious of their evasive claims about moral improvement efforts.

His probes revealed Scientology's involvement, sparking exposés by the St. Petersburg Times that earned a Pulitzer Prize and leading to a 1977 FBI raid uncovering operations like Project Normandy to dominate Clearwater and smears against him, including the Mayor Cazares Handling Project and Operation Freakout.

The church targeted him with harassment, such as a fabricated hit-and-run incident during a 1976 Washington trip and plans for a sex smear, prompting he and his wife Maggie to sue for privacy invasion and malicious prosecution in a case settled out of court.

Remaining outspoken post-office, Gabe Cazares urged investigations into Scientology's practices, property tax exemptions, and influence in local events, joining the Common Cause National Governing Board in 1991.

He died on September 29, 2006, in Clearwater at age 86, remembered for advocating the disadvantaged and relentlessly challenging Scientology's expansion despite personal and political costs.