The Disney World Experience in Central Florida: The Retaliation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District under DeSantis’s 2024 GOP Nomination Campaign
Under the agreement – quietly approved on February 8 as Florida lawmakers met in special session to hand DeSantis control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District – Disney would maintain control over much of its vast footprint in Central Florida for 30 years and, in some cases, the board can’t take significant action without first getting approval from the company.
The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District say their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with Disney that would give them maximum power over the theme park resort in central Florida.
DeSantis and Florida GOP lawmakers retaliated by eliminating the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special taxing authority that effectively gave Disney control of the land in and around its sprawling Orlando-area theme parks. The Republicans in control of the legislature decided to dismiss the board that oversaw the district and gave Ronsanity power to name all the replacements. It also renamed Reedy Creek as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and eliminated some of its powers.
The episode is the latest twist in a yearlong saga between Disney and DeSantis, who has battled the company as he tries to tally conservative victories ahead of a likely bid for the 2024 GOP nomination.
Fenkse said that Disney was attempting to execute contracts just before the new law transferring the rights and authorities from the former Reedy Creek Improvement District to Disney went into effect. “An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law.”
“We’re going to have to fix it and deal with it, that’s for sure,” he said. It’s a subversion of the will of the voters and the Legislature. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law,” the company said. Documents for the February 8 meeting show it was noticed in the Orlando Sentinel as required by law.
Disney World service workers were voting Wednesday on if they would accept a union contract offer that would raise the starting minimum wage by the end of the year.
costumed performers who perform as Mickey Mouse, bus drivers, lifeguards, theatrical workers and hotel housekeepers are just some of the service workers at the Disney theme park resort who have a new contract.
Workers could see their hourly wages rise between $5.50 and $8.60 an hour by the end of the five-year contract if it’s approved, according to union leaders.
The Disney-Disney Connection: A Special Tax District in Florida with a New Cast Member: King Charles III. The Board of Trustees
The board retained several financial and legal firms on Wednesday to investigate Disney’s past behavior, Taryn Fenske said. The board entered into agreements with four firms in order to provide counsel.
“The lack of consideration, the delegation of legislative authority to a private corporation, restriction of the Board’s ability to make legislative decisions, and giving away public rights without compensation for a private purpose, among other issues, warrant the new Board’s actions and direction to evaluate these overreaching documents and determine how best the new Board can protect the public’s interest in compliance with Florida Law,” the statement from Fishback Dominick LLP, Cooper & Kirk PLLC, Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, Waugh Grant PLLC and Nardella & Nardella PLLC said.
The board was stacked with political allies including a lawyer who once said tap water could make people gay, a wife of the Republican Party of Florida’s new chairman, and a pastor who once said tap water could make people gay.
At last month’s signing ceremony for the bill that gave him control of Reedy Creek’s board, DeSantis declared, “The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end.”
However, it may be a while before the new power structure has control, if Disney gets its way. The last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England, will die in 21 years, according to the deal that was signed by the outgoing board.
Allies of Trump suggested the governor had been out-maneuvered by Disney.
Taylor Budowich is a spokesman for Make America Great Again, and he said that President Trump brokered Middle East peace. Ron was out-negotiated by Mickey Mouse.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Walt Disney World and a special tax district are once again making headlines, but this time, it’s with a new cast member: England’s King Charles III.
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District: The Democratic-Leading Dispatch over the Reedy Creek Development District for the Last 50 Years
That means the five DeSantis allies who pledged to reign in one of Florida’s largest employers lack the ability to do much of anything, at least until they take legal action.
Last month, in a move widely seen as revenge, the governor signed a bill that took control of a special tax area surrounding Disney World. The Reedy Creek Development District has allowed Disney to operate and expand with a lot of autonomy for the last 50 years.
The governor appointed a Christian nationalist, a parents’ rights activist and a lawyer to the board of the tourism oversight district, and gave it a new name, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The newly appointed board was sitting for its second official meeting on Wednesday when it announced it had made a discovery: It might not be able to carry out the agenda it planned.
The measure allows Disney to have final say on any alterations to the property, and requires the board to inform Disney of its plans before anything is done.
Ron Peri, a board member, said that the board loses the majority of its ability to do anything other than maintain the roads and basic infrastructure.
The “Rule Against Perpetuities” is a clause in the terms of the agreements that states policy will continue until a certain person dies.
Savvy social media users also pointed out that the tactic resembled one that Republicans have used following recent election losses. In places like Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, GOP-led legislatures overhauled state election laws, shoring up their party power before handing the reins over to incoming Democratic majorities.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1167042594/disney-desantis-board-reedy-creek-charles
The board of directors of the Reedy creek commissioners is above board – does the governor seem concerned about the restrictive covenant clause?
As far as power moves go, this one does appear to be above board. A detailed note about the Restrictive Covenant clause was recorded in the Feb. 8 Reedy Creek agenda and meeting minutes. It was registered with the county comptroller a day later.
The documents are available online without a public records request needed. The old board met on Feb. 8. The board unanimously approved the measure and there were no public comments.
No one seemed to notice, or if they did, they didn’t raise an alarm. Not the new board, not the governor, not the legislators or the reporters actively monitoring developments (guilty).
When news outlets, including NPR, asked Disney for comment about the various steps of DeSantis’s takeover throughout February, the company played it straight-faced, saying it wouldn’t fight the takeover.
Worst case, could he make a new law? Maybe, but any law that more broadly takes action against restrictive covenants or special districts could have wider-reaching consequences that DeSantis may want to avoid.
One of the governor’s earlier plans to dissolve all special tax districts in the state fell apart after analysts pointed out that doing so might ultimately raise taxes for the counties next to Reedy Creek, frustrating local residents.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1167042594/disney-desantis-board-reedy-creek-charles
Comment on the Arbitrary Constraints in the DeSantis-Cooper & Kirk $bf NPR$
The board hired four outside law firms to look into the contract, including Cooper & Kirk. The Washington D.C. firm that has been paid millions of dollars by Ron DeSantis to help defend several controversial policies.
NPR reached out to members of the board for comment but had not heard back by the time of publication. One of the high-profile members said that the board won’t back down, and they wouldn’t stand for this.