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(St. Petersburg Times -- March 16, 1976)

By VERNON KIRBY
St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer

      CLEARWATER -- The Clearwater City Commission will debate Thursday whether the refusal to allow use of a city meeting room for an "Expose on Scientology" is common sense or censorship.

      Former radio talk show host Bob Snyder, who lost his job after tangling with the Scientologists on the air, is scheduled to appear before the commission to appeal a city staff decision refusing his request for use of the city hall annex community meeting room for a lecture on "The True Story of the Fort Harrison" and an "Expose of Scientology."

      "I DON'T KNOW whether we're doing the citizens a service or a disservice," Commissioner Darwin Frank said at a commission work session Monday. "To me this is a little bit of censorship."

      Snyder, fired Feb. 11 from radio station WDCL in Dunedin, wrote city officials Feb. 27 asking to lease the room for a lecture that would have taken this week.

      His request was answered March 4 by Assistant City Manager Michael Paroby, who turned Snyder down, saying the subject matter might involve the city in "legal liabilities."

      BUT CITY Atty. Thomas A. Bustin disagreed with that stand Monday, saying litigation between Mayor Gabriel Cazares and the Scientologists would have no bearing on the use of city facilities for Snyder's lecture.

      Assistant City Manager Tony Shoemaker told the commission that the city staff has avoided approving the use of city facilities by religious or political groups or for any controversial purpose. Those requests are passed along to the commission, he said.

      Frank and Commissioner Karen Martin called the city policies "wishy-washy" and Mrs. Martin asked, "Are we in effect saying to this man: "You can't rent the room because currently this is a very controversial issue'?"

      COMMISSIONER Karen De Blaker said she fears that if the city lets Snyder use the room for an attack on Scientology it would be giving the "stamp of approval" to his views.

      Snyder said in a telephone interview that he will ask the commission to let him lease the room at a later date for one of a series of lectures he says he plans on the subject.