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News of the Work (Dateline Pasadena style): It's been a busy week. Here are DP's latest dispatches from the front:

There are rumors floating around here that a group of employees and former employees are in contact with an attorney who handles lawsuits against church organizations. According to these people, this attorney has NEVER lost a lawsuit that has been filed against a church. WCG Executives are very concerned about the growing abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the cover-ups by Church leaders and Priests. Given WCG's track record of alleged cover ups concerning past physical and mental abuses, for money embezzlement and other things, WCG Executives are very much afraid of lawsuits right now. I wonder why!!!!!!!!! We all know that they have NEVER done ANYTHING wrong! Right?

My contact with the Board has expressed concerns that plans are in the works to write out numerous employees and past employees from the retirement program. It seems that Bernie and crew are throwing around a new phrase any time they talk about the retirement program..."We hope to have it available for all LOYAL church member employees." Of course, Bernie and crew are the ones that will determine what constitutes 'loyalty' in an individual. It will apparently never be a public statement, it will be something that will be determined out on an individual basis. This Board member is concerned that since Bernie promised the employees several years ago that they would be put into the retirement program that he is now trying to figure out ways to exclude those people and many present employees.

Dennis Pelley has a new technique in determining who to disfellowship next. One lady was told that she had to read the WCG Statement of Beliefs. Then she was to set up a time to talk with Pelley about her understanding of those beliefs. If you do not agree, then you are out the door. (It was noticed today that Pelley, Curtis May, Dan Rogers and Joe Tkach all left for lunch together. Many are wondering if the WCG hierarchy are reigning Pelley in or if they are giving him validation for his actions.

The brother of an employee was waiting to pick his brother up last week after Bernie's employee meeting. As he was waiting in the Hall of Ad he was watching a group of employees standing by the building talking. Then out walked Bernie. To his amazement, these people started clapping for Bernie. The employee's brother was totally disgusted. He said it reminded him of the glossy eyed people clapping for HWA as he walked on stage in the Auditorium. Dateline is amazed that this kind of stupidity is STILL going on!

Money to "Bern": Since Bernie determined that he and his staff would be relocating to Ambassador Hall, he finds the Handicapped ramp that Legacy Partners built for the building is 'ugly' so he is having it rebuilt according to HIS specifications. It has also been reported that Bernie has hired in a company here in Pasadena to redesign and decorate the offices in the building for his staff's use. God forbid if Bernie would have to use an office that was decorated by someone else! Too bad that money could not be spent on bonuses or employee raises. But no, it is more important to impress the public and put on a fake face than it is to practice basic Christian ethics.

Blah blah blah: The ad offensive (or should that read "the offensive ads"?) didn't end when Legacy pulled the rug from under the WCG. This gem appeared May 12.

STARTING OVER
Legacy's withdrawal from Ambassador project raises more questions - and
possible opportunities - than ever

By Erica Zeitlin

Pasadena City Manager Cynthia Kurtz is still not fully back in the swing of Ambassador project discussions following her recusal last month over conflict -of-interest concerns with developer Legacy partners

Ironically, however, Legacy itself has now withdrawn from the project, in an 11th hour parting of ways from the Worldwide Church of God, owner of the Ambassador property. Kurtz still wants to remain cautious about re-entering this project because it is still possible, she said, that Legacy would also re-enter the picture.

It will take several weeks before Kurtz knows what's really what on this project, she said, but in the meantime, she plans to continue taking a backseat role. Indeed, in this period of flux, even previous agreements between city staffers and Legacy, including affordable housing requirements for the project, are likely to change.

Church officials now intend to develop the property on their own, or simply "slip into Legacy's shoes," as Bernard Schnippert, the church's finance and planning director, has put it. The church has already begun assembling a team of consultants to help with the task, in fact, including contacting some people who until now worked closely with Legacy.

But, while Schnippert has called the church upbeat about its chances of success, influential city leaders have their doubts. Mayor Bill Bogaard, who has previously expressed concerns about the density of Legacy's now-defunct proposal, expects this transition period to be anything but simple. "I don't know that the church's stepping-into-the-shoes scenario would be black and white in every aspect," he said, echoing sentiments of others at City Hall.

'The project in its current, tentative carnation would be perhaps the largest housing development in Pasadena history and one of the largest in Los Angeles County, with 1,727 homes. Public pressure, which has gained steam in recent months, has also left many open-ended questions about the shape and fate of this project.

Bogaard characterized the situation in which the city now finds itself - three years after discussions began over the project - as "highly unusual," He said, "I don't recall being involved in a similar kind of action, where one developer steps in behind another developer in this way."

Hundreds of residents have concerns about potential environmental impacts associated with so many new homes in the neighborhood. Councilman Steve Madison, who represents many of those residents in southwest Pasadena, believes that legacy's withdrawal has left open many new possibilities for the project. "We're kind of back to square one," he said. "All of a sudden, all the plans are no longer applicable. What follows is not going to be the vision that legacy had."

The church, a global evangelical empire fallen on hard economic times in recent years, had contracted the former Ambassador College campus property to Legacy about three years ago. Since that time city officials, Legacy has been in near-constant discussions with city officials over the projects planned scope. But the church and Legacy parted ways over a bitter contract dispute last month, and now the whole deal, or at least a bog part of it, has come undone. Among things likely to change is a bare bones 6 percent affordable housing equipment that had been negotiated with the city staff in the last year. Some council members, including the mayor, now intend to demand a higher share, they say.

For Shawn McDougal, an affordable housing activist, that is clearly good news. "The ball's back in the air," he said. "Now that Legacy has left, lets use this opportunity for the city to step up to the plate and take care of the needy in this community who deserve to stay in Pasadena."

But a good opportunity for some is not a good opportunity for others.

Councilman Victor Gordo, who would also like to see more affordable housing in the city, nonetheless said that the project's changing of hands does not bode well for the community. "One, the community is suffering from a hosing crunch, and we need to increase the housing stock in this community," he said, "and two, 1,700 new units means we will have many new consumers here and new customers for small businesses in Pasadena."

Other elements of the project officials say are likely to change include the proposed number of homes for the property "and a deal" to save the beloved Ambassador Auditorium through a complex public financing scheme.

"I admire Legacy for bringing the community into the project early on," Bogaard said. "But traffic implications and the question of the auditorium and other things have all caused a lot of concern."

Madison also has "significant questions" about the church's technical expertise, resources and wherewithal to successfully develop the property either on its own or as a so called master developer, such as Legacy was - developing only part of the project and parceling out the rest to others.

However, Schnippert has also been quoted as saying that he might ultimately seek to sell the property to another religious institution, which would be exempt from paying the city millions of dollars in property taxes over coming years.

But city officials appear to be taking that possibility with a grain of salt. They said that while this may conceivably happen, Schnippert's public statements might be strategic and designed to pressure the city into cooperating with the church's intentions of keeping and developing the property. On the flip side, however, other believes the community would face big risks if the church were to become a master developer and parcel out its sprawling, 48 acre property to numerous other builders, Kurtz said that would mean the community would be left "not knowing what the next piece might hold." The auditorium and other sentimental features would particularly be threatened - clearly not what Pasadena wants, she added. "This is not a community that throws their gems away. They keep their gems. They respect their gems."

Legacy partners' Vice President Bill Shubin, for his part, believes it is still too early now to speculate on the eventual shape and terms of the Ambassador project or what role Legacy may still play. However, some agreements worked out between Legacy and the city would not be automatically applicable to the church, he said. "There are some things that they would probably have to start over with."

COG Lunacy? A lunatic, according to the etymology, has been affected by moonlight. Moon matters seem to be the latest craze among several groups that have Armstrong ties. An MD reader drew our attention to James Meyer's Paleo Times, based in Jefferson, Missouri. He writes:

SDAs - The Dewey Classification: Pam Dewey has turned her attention to the Seventh-day Adventist church.

The Real McCoy: When this writer joined the One True Church in 1976, the consensus among those brethren "in the know" was that the old correspondence course was a far more useful tool than the shortened 12 lesson edition that was then available. Now a devoted Armstrong disciple has dredged up the original 1950s CC, produced by Herb and Dr. C. Paul Meredith (his doctorate referred to a qualification in veterinary science.) Lo and behold, you can read these inspired, exhaustive lessons in PDF format.