DeSantis signs law stripping Disney World of Reedy Creek control - Names new board

[FBaggins]

FB - The real news here is the board IMO -

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law Monday that gives the state control of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, stripping the resort of its self-governing powers amid a feud with the governor.

“Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” said DeSantis at Reedy Creek Fire Station No. 4 on Disney property where he signed the bill. “This is what accountability looks like.”

The law, effective immediately, gives the governor the power to appoint all five members of the governing board of the district. Members would face Senate confirmation.

The governor also announced his choices for the board: Bridget Ziegler, a member of the Sarasota County School Board and a supporter of Moms for Liberty; Seminole County attorney Michael Sasso; attorney Martin Garcia of Tampa as chairman; Ron Peri, CEO of The Gathering USA, a ministry that focuses on faith and culture; and Clearwater attorney Brian Aungst.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-desantis-disney-reedy-creek-law-signed-20230227-mbhn25a2fnfnflmooos4tzd2eq-story.html

[cyclonefence]

1. Hoo boy

[JohnSJ]

2. If this megalomaniac ever became President, Democracy in the U.S. would be over. It looks very

likely he will be the republican party's presidential nominee. The illustrious media is sure pushing this also.

This guy will make trump look tame compared to DeSantis

[Initech]

3. Desantis would turn the US into a third world country in 5 minutes after he's inaugurated.

[Baitball Blogger]

24. +1

[Celerity]

22. I think it too soon to assume this:

It looks very likely he will be the republican party's presidential nominee.

I remain unconvinced DeathSentence can withstand the Trumpian blowtorch that is surely coming IF he does run. DeathSentence is a poor public speaker/debater from what I have seen, and also is pretty bereft of charisma.

Time will tell, but I am not at all ready to count out the old tangerine firehose of flaming shitfuckery that is Trump.

[Buckeyeblue]

28. I agree with you. He'll need the Trump vote to win the nomination

I don't see him able to move people to action. When you're the furor, you have to inspire and make your followers feel like they are at the hand of god. Ron hasn't demonstrated that yet.

I was listening to Carville's podcast and he's not convinced either. But he also said he doesn't think Trump will be the nominee either, which is interesting.

[ZonkerHarris]

42. Trump will strangle the guy with his bare hands if he gets close to getting the nomination

and if he does get it then Trump will literally burn down the GOP for it.

[JohnSJ]

44. Big money is behind desantis. I hope you are right that they choose trump

[nwliberalkiwi]

4. Perhaps Disney Reply Should Be

Close the park until DeSantis backs down. Can you imagine the businesses squealing. This would be a big hurt to Florida's economy.

[TheBlackAdder]

16. Just like oil refineries, close it for 3-month 'maintenance'.

[FBaggins]

18. It would hurt Disney and their employees far worse

I get the desire to stick it to him... but never thought this makes sense.

[boston bean]

5. Close the place down and make the California location into a mega Disneyland/world.

That’ll fuck desatan up.

[Zeitghost]

31. There is no room in Anaheim

Any talk of shutting down or moving the parks is a non-starter.

[Roland99]

36. No kidding.

After the Angels renewed their contract, any hope of any land nearby went away

And to move WDW?

43 square miles of development, wetlands, etc. 4 major theme parks, dozens of hotels (incl timeshares), two water parks, a major shopping district, etc

Yeah, it'll be a piece of cake!

[mitch96]

38. I would think moving to Georgia would do it... Or just the threat..nt

[Irish_Dem]

6. Same thing Putin did to his Russian oligarchs.

The oligarchs helped Putin get "elected."
Then once Putin had the power he let them know he was their master and they would obey
him at all times. Of face the consequences.

[Faux pas]

7. A

very small man ruling his tiny kingdom.

[unblock]

8. Thanks to republicans, Disney is now free to funnel millions to democrats

Wouldn't it be interesting if Disney determined that they have a corporate interest in turning Florida blue....

[NCDem47]

10. But they won't.

I get your thinking, but big business. They play both sides all the time.

Small businesses too. Whatever you need to do to grease the skids and have polticians on your side favorable to your business.

[unblock]

13. Right, but if the republicans take too much control....

The game only works if everyone scratches everyone else's back. Yeah, there's probably something we're not seeing where republicans are giving Disney yet another tax break or something.

DaSatan says this is what accountability looks like. Well Disney can keep republicans accountable by helping democrats if republicans don't treat Disney well enough.

In truth it's all rotten and corrupt, but that doesn't mean republicans can get away with just anything...

[FBaggins]

19. Unfortunately - it may end up having just the opposite effect

Corporations go out of their way to kiss up to the people who regulate them...

[peggysue2]

9. I thought DeSantis was pulling back from this action

Primarily because of the tax implications for residents and businesses, a huge enough increase that would piss a lot of voters off, even those who claim 'they're all in' with DeSantis' ongoing power grabs.

Should get very interesting.

Worse thing you can do as a politician is substantially hit the electorate in the wallet with no discernible benefit. Guess we'll get a sense of how much 'anti-woke' policy is worth to Florida residents.

[Fiendish Thingy]

17. This is his pullback

Originally, DeSantis was going to completely dissolve the Reedy Creek district, which would have resulted in an increase of billions per year to taxpayers for the cost of administration that was previously handled by Disney at their own expense.

In addition, the dissolution of the Reedy Creek district would have meant FL taxpayers assumed all of the district’s debts, also in the billions…

So, DeSantis tries to thread the needle by changing the rules of who serves on the board, but if the board doesn’t play nice, Disney can still close up shop, or sue, or…?

[FBaggins]

20. I don't see it as pulling back

Dissolving the district could have had less long-term impact on Disney (not the least reason because some of the debt might have shifted off of their backs)... because blue counties would have made zoning/building/infrastructure decisions.

This puts it in the governor's hands almost directly.

A pull-back would have looked like appointing "business-friendly" commissioners and holding the threat of worse selections down the road if they didn't play nice.

But these selections (at least the two who are labeled in their associations) look like a gut punch.

[Fiendish Thingy]

30. Well, it all depends on how the board acts moving forward

The board doesn’t have the power to ban “woke” events or policies at Disney World, they can only try to pressure or punish Disney indirectly.

I think Disney still holds most of the cards- what’s DeSantis gonna do, send in his secret police to force them to keep Splash Mountain open?

[FBaggins]

37. I wouldn't put much beyond a "Moms for Liberty" and "Gathering USA" board

No… they can’t take control of Disney operations.

But they could substantially increase taxes that only Disney pays.

Want to give the fire department a massive raise and keep their endorsement? Doesn’t have an offsetting political cost of raising property taxes.

[Fiendish Thingy]

39. yeah, I guess we'll see who plays the brinkmanship game the best...nt

[sarcasmo]

21. Ron will never pull back.

[NCDem47]

11. The thing about DeSatan...

You can just TELL he directs this crap. Not handelers.

He's fully leveraging his power using legislation and courts to tighten the grip. Good LORD what he woudl do with a US Congress and current SUpreme Court.

[republianmushroom]

12. Aw-Yes , control

[Historic NY]

14. They don't have any control over Disneys attractions...

[FBaggins]

25. Yes and No

They can't say "shut down that ride!" or "No gays on family days!"

But Disney wants to open two new water parks and (reportedly) a 5th major park on the property - and they could make that very hard.

[A HERETIC I AM]

47. That was a major part of it...

That Disney was able to do all the construction and modifications they wanted because they were their own zoning board, so to speak.

This move, as far as I have understood it, requires Disney to get approval for any new additions to the property from this new band of nitwits.

[Tickle]

63. I never thought of that

Now it sort of makes sense. Place nice and you can build "whatever"

[jalan48]

15. Welcome to the future when Republican's control the Executive branch of our government.

Is there a strategy to counter them?

[Fiendish Thingy]

32. Don't spend your tourism dollars in Florida, or any red state. Nt

[jalan48]

35. Yep-go to a blue state like California for sun.

[Oneironaut]

23. Can't wait for the Mickey Mouse episode where he defeats the homosexuals.

The main villain will be Captain Hook in drag.

[keithbvadu2]

26. What accountability do these five board members have?

What accountability do these five board members have?

Probably to DeSantis only.

Not for results or benefit to the residents?

Huge paychecks?

[Buckeyeblue]

33. None. But I don't understand what authority they have either

The land is private property. I guess they could impose "rules" for use of the land. But honestly I think this is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. It gets DeSantis attention. It seems like he is really taking it to Disney. But I don't believe that's the reality.

[FBaggins]

51. Think of them as the new county government

Police, fire/rescue, road maintenance, infrastructure (water/sewer/electricity/sanitation/etc.), water-quality inspectors, civil engineers, control of any future zoning and construction approvals for new parks... are all controlled by what used to be called "Reedy Creek". And, like a county, they have the power to tax the landowners in the area to provide these services... except Disney is effectively the only taxpayer.

[Buckeyeblue]

66. Maybe Florida is different but in Michigan the county/Township government cannot raise property taxe

They can put property tax increases on the ballot but they can unilaterally increase. Essentially, they just make sure they bills get paid and tax money is spent on what it was ear marked for.

[FBaggins]

67. Florida is indeed different

Regardless - "county" was just shorthand for explaining that the district is in many ways the local government for DW.

To be more precise, it was created as a "special taxing district" specifically with the power to levy taxes and fees on landowners within the district to provide services that would otherwise have been provided by the counties and/or the state. And Disney is the only landowner... so what was once a sweetheart deal is very different.

[Zeitghost]

55. The land is private

But the public infrastructure like roads, sewer, EMS/Fire, etc. were public and financed by tax assessments on property owners in the district, which was essentially only Disney.

[ChicagoRonin]

27. He's going to screw everything up

I have a strong feeling that all of this strong-arming of Disney and universities is going to result in all of the above failing in spectular ways. Like Trump or the Russians, these guys can't help themselves with their corrupt behavior. Their ideological nuttiness is bad enough, but they're going to attempt to play every angle to suck money out of everything, install incompetent crony buddies, embezzle, pillage, etc.

Sadly, probably not fast enough to knock them out of power.

[JCMach1]

29. Stupid 'anti-woke' rubbish incoming from this crew

Watch this space

[Zeitghost]

34. This is an odd issue

I understand the uproar, but take Desantis out of it and you have a bunch of people upset that the power of local government is being taken from a huge corporation and returned to the State, which is where it belonged in the first place.


The idea that Disney could own and control a local government set up entirely for them is absurd.

[kskiska]

40. Move to Puerto Rico.

[Stinky The Clown]

58. That's a great idea

Start Mickey Airways. Fly from the mainland to PR at rates the equal of long term parking. Turn Reedy Creek into long term parking. Fly out of Orlando. Anyone who would have flown into MCO would bypass Florida completely.

This is totally kneee jerk and simply an expression of sentiment, not a well-thought plan

[onethatcares]

41. Now what?

This is like one of his press conferences where he spouts bullshit, takes no questions and walks off stage. I've yet to hear his plan going forward with disney world.

[FBaggins]

46. He doesn't need a plan going forward with Disney

He's selected the people who will replace the current board of what was once Reedy Creek and theoretically he can just leave them to it.

[onethatcares]

57. so, there is no plan

as to deal with the tax money that's lost, even if it was a corporation paying it's own way.

We're going into fire season here in central floriduh and someone has to pay the piper when it comes to fighting those brush fires. Even though the 5 member board has taken over the administrative aspect of that, they sure as hell aren't going to carry jerry cans and multi tools to fight the fires.

Basically, my question asks; Who pays for what?

there has been no out loud plan/explanation or musings that I've seen.

[FBaggins]

60. There's no need to plan for "lost tax money"

There isn't any (in fact that taxes will likely rise).

That was a hole in the prior plan that was closed when the state left the district in place and just replaced the board.

We're going into fire season here in central floriduh and someone has to pay the piper when it comes to fighting those brush fires.

In winning their endorsement, Desantis said that he thought those firefighters deserved big raises. Now he can provide them and force Disney to pay for it.

Even though the 5 member board has taken over the administrative aspect of that, they sure as hell aren't going to carry jerry cans and multi tools to fight the fires.


Reedy Creek (now Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board) has four fire stations and ~150 firefighters. They continue to work for the district and Disney continue to pay the taxes that pay their salaries. The only change is that the taxes used to be controlled by a board that was controlled by Disney... and now it isn't.

[onethatcares]

61. thank you

I'm west central floriduh area and will watch this play out because believe it or not, I wouldn't trust desantis and his boards. I saw what he's paying Corcoran for the school thing. It's not out of his pocket for sure.


Thanks.

[dalton99a]

43. Kick

[ProfessorGAC]

45. I Think He Overestimates The Importance Of This

Disney didn't fight this.
They are a $185 billion company & if this really mattered to them, they would have all legal means to fight it.
They didn't even try to delay any action, and publicly said they wouldn't fight.
Disney doesn't even care about this.

[FBaggins]

48. It doesn't have to be all that big a deal for them (if they play nice), but...

... the reason they didn't fight it is that they really didn't have a choice.

DeSantis has overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and near-certain support from both state and federal courts. Disney isn't big enough for that.

[ProfessorGAC]

50. Not Buying It

There are always legal tactics to delay. If it was high value, they'd fight it for the financial benefit until the inevitable occurred.
The economic value just must not be there.

[Zeitghost]

53. They might have been able to delay

But I think it's in Disney's best interest to just make it go away. The more people that find out they were given governmental power/control roughly equal to a city/county government the more people will start to think that maybe they shouldn't have that sort of power.

[obamanut2012]

54. Um... other special districts still have thst power

Including The Villages.

[Zeitghost]

56. I understand that

The issue here is that the district is comprised of a single property owner and that property owner is one of the biggest multinational entertainment companies in the world. People will see that a bit differently than 80K retired home owners.


Outside of Desantis' motives here, I really don't think this is all that bad. Among various other problems, the idea that a corporation can be given governmental power to approve their own building permits is crazy.

[obamanut2012]

52. Of course they had a choice

They could have tied this up in courts for ten years, and would ultimately win the lawsuit anyway.

Not doing anything is hysterical, because litetally this does nothing. They have zero real authority over anything Disney does on property.

[FBaggins]

62. Nope. They couldn't "tie it up in court for ten years"

And they certainly wouldn't win.

I haven't seen anyone even propose what a legal challenge would look like. The old plan (from last year) definitely had some holes in it, but this is a straightforward change of state law. Lawsuits don't have to take years if the court doesn't feel that they need to... and the courts are effectively in his back pocket.

The only lawsuits that I can see getting traction will come if the board clearly abuses its authority with some decision - but that would only pause that decision, not replace the board with Disney's hand-picked selections.

If you think the US Supreme Court leans hard right... you haven't met the FL Supreme Court. It has no liberal wing. It has a moderate wing with a single justice... and six hard-right conservatives. On what basis would you think that they would let Disney delay?

[obamanut2012]

68. Lol your post is so mistaken it literally made me laugh

You

Are

Wrong

[FBaggins]

69. Feel free to present a plausible legal argument they could make

"You don't know nuthin' " isn't exactly compelling rhetoric.

[lostnfound]

65. I have a suspicious mind that it was planned

The debt, the fact that Florida property situation is different now, the unpredictable losses from the pandemic.. maybe they intend to …? Sell pieces off to foreign investors? I don’t know what. But I’m sure there’s money in this in several ways.

[Chainfire]

49. I didn't catch the surnames of the new board, but the given names were

Hermann, Joseph, Heinrich, and Martin. DeSantis closest friends.

[ecstatic]

59. you would think that corporations would be terrified of where this is headed

If it's OK for a rethug governor to do this to "woke" companies, what's to stop a democratic governor from doing the same to companies we don't approve of?

[dembotoz]

64. not enough sprinkles on you ice cream cone? be a karen and loudly bash desantis

tie up his email with complaints about lines
complaints about the smelly bathrooms
it rained too hard...jr got sunburn....
call his office,,,make his staff hate him

[LetMyPeopleVote]

70. This makes me smile

Disney has what is in effect a utility district that maintains the roads and infrastructure for Walt Disney World called Reedy Creek Development. When you are at WDW you see a Reedy Creek Fire Department and police station. When Disney offended DeathSantis on his "don't say gay" law, DeathSantis first had the Florida legis pass a bill to abolish Reedy Creek which would have cause Florida taxpayers assume several billion of bonds and would have been a breach of these bonds.

DeathSantis had the Florida legis rescind that bill and adopt a new bill to let DeathSantis appoint the board of this utility district. Disney had sufficient time to screw DeathSantis' new board

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

71. This makes me smile

Disney has what is in effect a utility district that maintains the roads and infrastructure for Walt Disney World called Reedy Creek Development. When you are at WDW you see a Reedy Creek Fire Department and police station. When Disney offended DeathSantis on his "don't say gay" law, DeathSantis first had the Florida legis pass a bill to abolish Reedy Creek which would have cause Florida taxpayers assume several billion of bonds and would have been a breach of these bonds.

DeathSantis had the Florida legis rescind that bill and adopt a new bill to let DeathSantis appoint the board of this utility district. Disney had sufficient time to screw DeathSantis' new board

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet