News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Do you think it should be illegal to hand out anti-war pamphlets? The Supreme Court once ruled that was okay.
My opinion, morals, and values come into play when I vote. Or I could run for office. At the same time, we have to have some level of trust in the courts. Otherwise, we can’t function. They ultimately decide what is unconstitutional. That’s their role in our society.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
My opinion, morals, and values come into play when I vote. Or I could run for office. At the same time, we have to have some level of trust in the courts. Otherwise, we can’t function. They ultimately decide what is unconstitutional. That’s their role in our society.
But those decisions are not static and permanent. We’re also not speculating about a lot of what is happening. Many of those involved have been very open about why they are acting and it is not a concern over land use in Central Florida.
 

Henry Mystic

Author of "A Manor of Fact"
Of course they have the right to say what they want, we all do, but with that can come consequences as well. Disney should just stay in their lane regardless of their positions on things outside running their company. They have enough problems to worry about right now before they create new ones.
The 1st amendment is supposed to prevent what you described, as freedom of speech is an innate right exclusively from governmental punishment.

Florida has no legal right to punish a company for its political views (especially not the execs themselves), and saying Disney could’ve avoided this enables tyrannical governments to abuse their power.

If you have to walk on eggshells to not displease the government—like Disney would‘ve had to towards DeSantis—then you’re in a dictatorship my friend. It’s how China works, or Russia, or any authoritarian state.

This applies to any political view, so if this was California punishing a conservative company exclusively for their freedom of speech (like criticizing a law or a politician), it would be equally effed up and deserve an outcry.

And it’s not like DeSantis or many Florida legislatures are even pretending to act like it isn’t related to Disney’s response to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. They’re in many cases outspoken about it.

If this was Florida going after Disney’s business practices with no 1st amendment rights being attacked we would not even be having this conversation. That is the ONLY reason Florida is going after Disney: because they chose to use their 1st amendment rights and the government there disagreed with them.

If Florida wants to help Floridians and actually hold Disney accountable in a legal manner, perhaps they could focus on stricter labor laws to combat the ways that Disney abuses the present ones to rip-off their employees, or wage new taxes towards the tourism sector to increase education funding per student (Florida has lower funding than the national average per student). Those are real issues.

This is in contrast to Google, Twitter, or Facebook from determining what they want to allow on their platforms. They are private companies that can do whatever they want. There are no 1st amendment protections because it wasn’t written to protect you against companies.
 
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Dranth

Well-Known Member
I would suggest giving Married to the Mouse by Richard Foglesong a read about some of the advantages that Disney has enjoyed in the past. The biggest is that Disney is able to right size the District to its needs. If projects were getting held up by the building department because there wasn’t enough staff to review all of the projects in a timely manner, then Disney is able to get the District to hire more reviewers. There are also issues around the bonds that I would not be able to accurately articulate.
Legit question, is that a power provided by RCID that other districts do not have or is it just that Disney can afford to bring on more staff as needed?

As for reading the book, it’s been on my list for a while now. I really need to just break down and do it.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
But those decisions are not static and permanent. We’re also not speculating about a lot of what is happening. Many of those involved have been very open about why they are acting and it is not a concern over land use in Central Florida.
And I imagine that openness you mentioned is how, in part, you have formed an opinion that what the state has done/is doing is completely unconstitutional.

My opinion is a little more mixed. Depending on the final outcome, I could see it going either way. Disney would have to make the case based on the legislation passed. But I have a feeling it’s never going to get that far anyways.

Do the state’s actions sit well with me? No, not particularly. It gives me the “not right” feeling, putting my feelings about Disney aside.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
This is in contrast to Google, Twitter, or Facebook from determining what they want to allow on their platforms. They are private companies that can do whatever they want. There are no 1st amendment protections because it wasn’t written to protect you against companies.
Until those companies start acting on behalf of the government. Under pressure from the government.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
So you agree with my points about Florida pulling an authoritarian swing towards Disney, right, since you know, they’re explicitly going against the 1st amendment to punish Disney, or does that straw-man you pulled out completely nullify my major concerns with the actions of Florida going completely unfettered with millions of Americans?
It wasn’t a straw man. But it was off topic so I’ll end the point.

My opinion is a little more mixed. Depending on the final outcome, I could see it going either way. Disney would have to make the case based on the legislation passed. But I have a feeling it’s never going to get that far anyways.

Do the state’s actions sit well with me? No, not particularly. It gives me the “not right” feeling, putting my feelings about Disney aside
 

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium Member
I'm pretty sure I got a flintlock cap pistol in the POTC gift shop when I was a kid. It may have come from somewhere else, though.
You are remembering correctly. My brother and I both had one, and we would run around Ft. Wilderness "killing" everything in sight! The sold them at the campground and in Frontier Land.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Legit question, is that a power provided by RCID that other districts do not have or is it just that Disney can afford to bring on more staff as needed?

As for reading the book, it’s been on my list for a while now. I really need to just break down and do it.
It’s an indirect power that comes from Disney’s control because Disney doesn’t have to compete with other constituents. If the City of Orlando was short staffed Universal could lobby for more staff but could ultimately not prevail.

I would guess that Universal’s recently proposed community development district is all about gaining some control and special treatment from SunRail. While many are still focused on Brightline, SunRail offering transit for $2 - $3 per person is probably the bigger win for Universal. SunRail though is a rather Spartans service: stations are just open air platforms, ticketing is by self service kiosks, station staffing is minimal to non-existent and service is not consistent or offered on weekends. The new CDD could use its transit authority to build a station with amenities, subsidize service, contract for more frequent service, provide bus services through the district, etc. all to the clear advantage of Universal. Depending on the final boundaries of the district, Universal’s large land holding could definitely make them a major player in how this new district operates.
 

Dranth

Well-Known Member
None of which are controlled by or exist for the near-exclusive benefit of a single multi-billion dollar international corporation.
I'm sorry but I don't buy this. NOTHING is stopping other companies from doing the same thing. There are laws to setup a special district and any one of them can do that anytime they want. They don't because they don't need to. None of them own a sprawling, city size complex that requires city level public works.
 

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