Ha Ha. The would be Florida dictator sought revenge against Disney for some of its executives exercising their First Amendment rights by criticizing his petty, repressive laws aimed at gays and other minorities but it looks like he got outsmarted:
"Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent months (and an entire chapter of his new book) boasting about his victory over a “woke” corporation after demanding that the state Legislature yank the Reedy Creek Improvement District from under Walt Disney Company control.
Clearly, the governor thought he’d written the perfect fairy tale and cast himself as the hero — only to discover that Disney executives flipped the script.
In broad daylight, no less. Before it was infested with the governor’s band of political buddies, the Reedy Creek board signed binding contracts that transfer most of the control of district-owned facilities and future development back into Disney’s hands, and ban the district from using any Disney trademarks. Now the district, renamed the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District,” appears to be just a payroll, a bundle of debt and tax levies that probably can’t be disturbed.
The governor’s response is classic DeSantis. He now wants to waste some of that money on a small army of very expensive attorneys in an effort to unwind those agreements.
In other words, DeSantis’ plan for the district he seized is to take tax money from Disney and use it to sue Disney, in an attempt to circumvent Disney’s control over land Disney owns."
Our story so far
Most Central Floridians remember how this spat started: During a special session of the Florida Legislature, Rep. Randy Fine introduced a sneak attack to abolish the Reedy Creek district. It was an apparent attempt to punish Disney executives for mild, belated criticism of DeSantis-backed bills, including attacks on diversity training and the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which targeted discussions of sexual orientation in schools. (Side note: Fine, a Brevard Republican, asserted last week that DeSantis has since urged him to apply to run Florida Atlantic University. We’re getting Jafar vibes off that one.)
Critics were quick to point out that there were a few reasons not to straight-up abolish the district. Or a billion: The district, created more than 50 years ago to give the company more control over its own permitting and planning for the 38.5 square miles of then-undeveloped land it had purchased, now carries about $1 billion in bond debt.
And some huge, real world responsibilities, including permitting, planning and critical utilities for Disney’s four theme parks, two water parks, a sports complex, a collection of hotels that total more than 40,000 guest rooms and Disney Springs, with its 24-screen movie theater, House of Blues and Cirque du Soleil. The district operates two incorporated cities, full-fledged fire and EVAC departments complete with cranky unions, 170 lane miles of roads, a huge electric plant and natural-gas distribution system, water and wastewater systems.
Many — including this editorial board — have been uneasy about the power that the Reedy Creek district allows Disney to wield, or the untold magnitude of tax payments it’s avoided over the years by taking advantage of its ability to issue government bonds. The district even had the authority (which it never used) to construct a nuclear power plant. But there’s no doubt that the company backed its power with its own cash. Its hand-picked board levied property taxes that are triple or quadruple what other Central Florida cities and counties charge — taxes that Disney was charging itself. Under the first 2022 legislation that would have abolished the board outright, that tax burden and bond debt could have transferred to Orange and Osceola taxpayers.
Without so much as an “oops, my bad,” DeSantis’ minions wrote another secret plan. During a special session in December, lawmakers obediently adopted it. The new legislation took few powers away from the district — but did wrest control from company hands and declared that DeSantis had sole authority to appoint the district’s board.
Unfortunately, those high-priced lawyers and DeSantis’ own staff apparently didn’t bother to pay attention to the agreements the old Reedy Creek board signed off on in the meetings before the state Legislature approved the governor’s hotheaded demands. We’re not sure why. The meetings were open to the public and duly noticed.
As members of those high-priced law firms explained, the old board enacted agreements that transfer most of the control back to the company. There’s also a contract that restricts the district from using any Disney trademarks or changing design aspects of any district-owned properties — ending any possibility of renaming Disney Springs’ parking garages “Ron” and “Casey.”
They were all approved in the Sunshine. They meet the deadlines the Legislature itself set — after the agreements were ratified. And they were rolled out well in advance of the June deadline the first Reedy Creek law set for abolishing the district."
"Through a spokesperson, DeSantis declared that the new district will rev up its pricey legal superpower and wrest back control, fulminating about “significant legal infirmities” but failing to identify any, and complaining about last-minute maneuvers after launching not one, but two sneak attacks on a publicly held corporation. We suspect he’s living in Fantasyland."
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/editorials/os-op-edit-desantis-disney-reedy-creek-20230402-26iduwntcbfjpclzqu2cl3gtha-story.html
What a hoot; looks like he's about as dumb as the rest of you right wing clowns.
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@no1marauder saidHe who laughs last laughs hardest.
Ha Ha. The would be Florida dictator sought revenge against Disney for some of its executives exercising their First Amendment rights by criticizing his petty, repressive laws aimed at gays and other minorities but it looks like he got outsmarted:
"Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent months (and an entire chapter of his new book) boasting about his victory over a “woke” corpor ...[text shortened]... 3gtha-story.html
What a hoot; looks like he's about as dumb as the rest of you right wing clowns.
