Some time in the 90's, DM visited Boston briefly. It was a brief visit during day org hours. Being on Foundation, I did not see him. What I heard is that he got a tour of the building and every outpoint he saw he would designate as a "Kodak moment" and I believe one of his assistants would take a photo. Then he talked to the then ED, Mary Smith, in her office. She mentioned that they were considering selling the building, even way back then. He asked for a piece of paper. She gave it to him, he wrote the words, "Absolutely not", signed it, and gave it back to her. He said to refer to that paper any time they thought about selling the building. I wonder where that paper is now.
There was always talk back then about selling the building and getting another place, mostly due to the parking. After that visit, I never heard another mention of selling the building again. I left in 2001.
YES! The Kodak moment here is the "Absolutely not" piece of paper. Back in the bad old days when missions and orgs could actually expand there was a policy wherein LRH informed the budding Scieno that a local office, org or mission or business must operate with a large degree of automony from the higher authority or it would fail. LRH referred to the Danger condition which stated emphatically that when an upper org ran lower org, both orgs would fail.
This is a small tribute to LRH that one of his policies actually was correct. Ever since the SO decided to run every org in the world (bypass is the term) the orgs have shrunk and shrunk and are currently dwindling to non-existence.
The Boston Org had a major parking problem and the building was a nightmare to heat and maintain and too large for the members. But Davey knew best and INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES he ORDERED Mary and her successors to continue idiotically pretending that the problems weren't there. Davey was showing his chief skillset...unflinching, unreasonable, brave, 100% certainty in giving an order even if it is stupid, really stupid, really, really stupid and getting away with it. This explains the need for that monstrosity of a building they bought in the South End. The hierarchy of Scientology forced the Boston COS into a ridiculous circumstance. It amazes me that the locals went along with it.
What about making a sane decision?
What about obtaining a space that makes sense?
LRH loved telling people to do things and hated listening to reasons why his ideas stunk. Recipe for disaster.
The story of the Boston Org is nothing short of a disaster. The Boston Org THRIVED in the early 70's. There were tons of cool and interesting people there. Staff was well paid but it was a cool place. Good looking young people running around. Talent shows! Moneyed people buying courses and auditing. Celebrities, scholars, and lots of happy people. It wasn't perfect by any means but thousands of people were exposed to a fun, lively place that wanted you to succeed. But that changed and the reasons are legion. Greed, stat pushes, expensive legal campaigns all played a part but I'm thinking it was the upper org guys who had to rip off the best staff, who had to rip off the best public, who had to insist on preposterous targets, and insist on heavy ethics for just about anyone who was working the hardest.
Had the Boston Org been given automony, it'd probably be thriving today. But the nature of Scientology is to extract every bit of money and life out of every person that comes in. It's impossible for most people to hang around when one is asked to give more and more and more and more. And the tech got more and more restrictive. All sorts of don't and musts and 100% standard or else. The COS was no longer a place to gain life skills but a crusade that really, really, really needed your help or the world was going to end. The fun folks left. The happy energetic beautiful people found ways to avoid coming in. Everyone was considered to be working for Scientology, instead of finding ways to be a better person. Ethics and OW writeups and confessionals were Scientology tech and that stuff just isn't fun. No way, no how. Especially when your session secrets are being used to punish you.
So much nuttiness.
Wow, am I glad to be out!
