Menlo Park Kingdom Hall 3 (page 2)

Juan Viejo2

By the way, one of my contacts close to the Menlo Park situation mentioned in passing that the original mortgage was privately financed (probably by a fellow JW) and it was finally paid in full in mid-2009, just before the move by the Circuit Overseer and the elders in Redwood City begain to make their move against the Menlo Park elders.

BTW - Randy Watter's recent article and posting has a couple of paragraphs that describe the background to very situation very clearly. If you missed it, go back and read his posting or the article located at his website http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/ethics/the-ever-changing-watch-tower-doctrines-betray-its-corruption.html . Good work, Randy!

The problem is that so many of the current Witnesses came in after 1980 and probably assumed that the Kingdom Halls they went to were financed and owned by the Watchtower Society. And that's exactly what the WTBS wants them to think - makes it easier for them to do a land and building grab. The courts have their hands tied, because churches can pretty much do whatever they want without being held to the same level of ethics that the rest of us have to observe.

JV

mrsjones5

I have one small critique of the article. The Bayshore freeway is not the actual barrier, East Palo Alto extends pass the Bayshore to the west. The city limit to the west extends up to the San Francisquito Creek which runs alongside Woodland Avenue, north up to Euclid, east to East O'Keefe Street, then east on Menalto Street ending at the Bayshore. To the south alongside the creek the city limit runs along the San Francisquito Creek/Woodland Avenue also ending at the Bayshore barrier. East Palo Alto boundaries

Juan Viejo2

Mrs. Jones,

You are right, of course. Yes, there are a couple of places where East Palo Alto is on the west side of the freeway, including the old notorious "Whiskey Gulch" area that is now filled with an office park. Thank you for making that clarification. My point was that the east side of the Bayshore might as well be in a different universe from the west side cities of Menlo Park, Redwood City, Palo Alto, and even the western sections of East Palo Alto.

When I was down there in November and drove through the entire south bay area, I had no preconceived notions about any of the neighborhoods I went to. But my own sense of well-being changed as I drove eastward across that wide bridge that crosses the Bayshore Freeway. As I entered the residential neighborhood where one of the plaintiffs lived, although it is relatively well kept, I could tell the local residents (mostly high school kids) were suspicious of my being there, and watched me closely as I drove around looking for addresses. I had one young man on a bicycle follow me almost the entire time.

It may have been my age or my complexion, or it may have simply been my Oregon license plates. But I could tell that I was being watched closely. My sensitivity and caution probably has more to do with my own failings and inborn insecurities dating back to my days as a telephone repairman in Los Angeles. I spent several years working in the Crenshaw-Leimert Park and Watts areas of LA back in the early 1970s. I frequently found myself being closely watched by Crips, Bloods, and overtly militant Nation of Islam neighborhood monitors.

When I returned to the west side, and drove around the Menlo Park area near the Kingdom Hall, the only thing I felt I had to watch out for was the kids getting out of school - and all of the speed bumps that kept my old Camry's shocks working overtime.

JV

mrsjones5

You're right, going to either side of the boundary of Palo Alto/Menlo Park and East Palo Alto is like night and day. We lived there for 10 years and my parents were very happy to move away from East Palo Alto.

Juan Viejo2

In case anyone is still following this story, there are some updates posted at Ex-JW.com. There is a lot more to come in the weeks ahead.

I urge anyone who reads this website and lives in the Menlo Park, Palo Alto, or Redwood City (CA) areas, to please contact me through that website. I urge anyone with additional information or insight to share their knowledge with me so that I can round out the story and fill in some of the gaps. I see a lot of hits to the website coming in from the SF south bay area, so I know that there are more of you out there following this story.

JV

Juan Viejo2

In case anyone is still interested in this case, I can assure you that it is not dead. Suddenly I am getting calls from JWs and ex-JWs from all over the country telling me that similar situations happened in their area. Some of the stories are quite incredible, but there is a consistent thread that is running through them that give me confidence that Menlo Park is not that unique.

The Menlo Park story, though, may take a very dramatic turn within the next few weeks - very, very dramatic. This could turn out to be something bigger than I ever imagined when I first began to investigate.

I will let everyone know when I post something new at Ex-JW.com, but I would suggest - if you haven't read it before, that you check out one of my first articles on the subject. I realize now that it holds clues to deeper issues going on at Menlo Park that I did not understand when I wrote it several months ago:

http://ex-jw.com/kingdom-halls-who-owns-them

JV

ziddina

Marking...

Thanks for keeping us posted on this, Juan Viejo2!!

moshe

Some of the stories are quite incredible,

-incredible stories is what Six Screens gives us- "fact checked" stories are what JWN readers demand.

Juan Viejo2

Moshe,

There is a local newspaper reporter working this case. She is checking facts very closely. She has access to police, DA and court records that I can't get to. On the other hand, if you go check the article, "Fear and Loathing..." on Ex-JW.com and go to the bottom of the article, you will see that I provided links to all of the official court documents, many that were supplied by my reporter contact.

Yes, Rick has allowed JTB to put questions of credibility in all of our minds. But I can assure you, Moshe, that the scandalous situation in Menlo Park is real. People have put their reputations and personal safety on the line to expose the scandalous behavior of some of the players in this drama, who are being aided and abetted by the WTS.

And yes, I repeat: Some of the unpublished stories I've heard from sources inside and outside of the Menlo Park KH are quite incredible.

So as soon as I can get enough confirmation and more public documents released to me, I will announce them here and publish more Menlo Park articles on Ex-JW.com.

JV

Mad Sweeney

Sent you an email, Juan.

Menlo Park Kingdom Hall 3

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