LA Times: Is Disney Paying Its Fair Share In Anaheim

[flynnibus]

The article basically exposes the WDCo, Disneyland Resort, and the City of Anaheim for their long history of cozy backdoor dealings that include literally millions of dollars in financial contributions from Disney to candidates that will do the its bidding while the company goes out of its way to make as few concessions as possible. It's a well written and detailed investigation that probably has TDA and folks in Burbank in a tizzy trying to figure out the correct way to spin this in case the story blows up across news media channels.

Long story short it is an extremely negative story, and coming from a nationally recognized news organization it is a blow to Disney's image and embarrassment for the City's past council members. I think it's safe to say this could escalate the animosity of Anaheim citizens against Disney even further, which in turn might impact future developments at DLR.

I think the only person this article was so enlightening to was you.

Swooning politicians?? That's why reform was done.

Political contributions?? Maybe you missed that Supreme Court ruling that basically let companies contribute as if they were individuals?? Disney isn't doing anything underhanded in that article and if someone didn't think Disney paid lobbyists and had political contributions to local politics they were living under a rock or high on pixie dust.

Newsflash.... Disney does the same thing in DC and Florida! They didn't call the copyright extension law the Mickey Mouse protection act out of simple humor...

 

[Disney Irish]

People in Anaheim don't see reposts of news articles in their social media feeds? Huh?

Based on the recent political issues with media feeds its less likely. Not saying they don't, but I'm saying that people these days are less inform on issues than in the past.

 

[flynnibus]

I wasn't saying that would ever happen. It was just a quick thought on how a deal could be done and get city improvements at the same time.

As to whether its extortion or not, or even legal, is a different question.

Well being legal or not is not 'another discussion ' when proposing how government relations should be.

It's already bad enough that companies can effectively buy zoning agreements by offering proffers and other concessions to try to sweeten the deal... but to have it go the other way for things not even related as a way to win approval ..is straight up criminal.

Taxes like the ones being discussed here are examples of people trying to get other people to pay their bills. Maybe if Anaheim heads bit more of a diverse tax base they wouldn't need to be do 'creative'

 

[Disney Irish]

Well being legal or not is not 'another discussion ' when proposing how government relations should be.

It's already bad enough that companies can effectively buy zoning agreements by offering proffers and other concessions to try to sweeten the deal... but to have it go the other way for things not even related as a way to win approval ..is straight up criminal.

Taxes like the ones being discussed here are examples of people trying to get other people to pay their bills. Maybe if Anaheim heads bit more of a diverse tax base they wouldn't need to be do 'creative'

I think you are taking too serious on a thought that was just meant to show that a deal could be done. I'm not a lawyer nor a politician, so legality or even politically smart is not the point of my post.

Anaheim is likely mismanaged in terms of budget, just like most cities and counties in this country. It wasn't that long ago that all of Orange County was bankrupt. All of which is not Disney's fault.

 

[Curious Constance]

The article seems to act as if Disney is seedy or out of line in their dealings with Anaheim. When it's common practice. Did anyone really think that wasn't happening? Of course the media would give you just enough info to sway a story the way they want you to lean. No wonder no one bothers to read the news. It's not really fact you're reading , its opinion 99% of the time. When you do a bit of research after the fact, you can pretty much always prove the whole story wasn't told or it was told in a biased way. Opinionated people who have to write stories and try to get people to read them, sure I trust that.

 

[mickEblu]

Of course you did, Millennial.

The article basically exposes the WDCo, Disneyland Resort, and the City of Anaheim for their long history of cozy backdoor dealings that include literally millions of dollars in financial contributions from Disney to candidates that will do its bidding while the company goes out of its way to make as few concessions as possible. It's a well written and detailed investigation that probably has TDA and folks in Burbank in a tizzy trying to figure out the correct way to spin this in case the story blows up across news media channels.

Long story short it is an extremely negative story, and coming from a nationally recognized news organization it is a blow to Disney's image and embarrassment for the City's past council members. I think it's safe to say this could escalate the animosity of Anaheim citizens against Disney even further, which in turn might impact future developments at DLR.

Lol @ millennial.

Well thanks for the rundown. I couldn't read and eat my avocado toast at the same time.

 

[flynnibus]

This reminds me of the hooah over how companies were making orange juice in big industrial processes after an article "exposing " the practices went viral. People acted like this was some big new problem that had to be stopped!!! The share happy social media public was too oblivious to realize it wasn't some new expose... they were just ignorant of the realities of food processing.

Getting educated is phenomenal - over reacting without any real awareness... not so much

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Anaheim is likely mismanaged in terms of budget, just like most cities and counties in this country. It wasn't that long ago that all of Orange County was bankrupt. All of which is not Disney's fault.

I think you might be making this into more than what it is. One of my primary take-aways from the Time's expose is that the 2016 election resulted in significant changes in the makeup of the Anaheim City Council, with seats taken by candidates who campaigned on quality of life improvements first and Disneyland's demands second. Between Disneyland and certain members of the Anaheim City Council there was plenty of blame to go around, so the voters made a choice and here we are.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Well thanks for the rundown. I couldn't read and eat my avocado toast at the same time.

WFT with avocado toast? Can you please explain to me what the deal is? I was just asking a friend the other day why suddenly everyone is obsessing about it. Her response? "Because it's delicious". ¬_¬

 

[Curious Constance]

Don't get me started on Facebook and the memes and ridiculous stories that are shared till you want to puke. It's totally ruined it for me. It was a nice way to keep in touch with friends and family, now it's become like a IQ test and constantly makes me angry because I realize how stupid a lot of people really are. And this is on both sides of the political spectrum and just in general. Stop and think! The meme you thought was so clever proves you have zero critical thinking skills!

Another thing this reminds me of. When I was a kid I remember the news started doing a bunch of stories about a rash of shark attacks. It was big news! Why were all the sharks attacking!? Causing public fear and surely everyone to tune in to see the latest developments. Well someone did some research, and guess what? That year shark attacks were actually LOWER than previous years. Thanks news! Thanks for doing your part in spreading lies and click bait.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Don't get me started on Facebook and the memes and ridiculous stories that are shared till you want to puke. It's totally ruined it for me. It was a nice way to keep in touch with friends and family, now it's become like a IQ test and constantly makes me angry because I realize how stupid a lot of people really are. And this is on both sides of the political spectrum and just in general. Stop and think! The meme you thought was so clever proves you have zero critical thinking skills!

Another thing this reminds me of. When I was a kid I remember the news started doing a bunch of stories about a rash of shark attacks. It was big news! Why were all the sharks attacking!? Causing public fear and surely everyone to tune in to see the latest developments. Well someone did some research, and guess what? That year shark attacks were actually LOWER than previous years. Thanks news! Thanks for doing your part in spreading lies and click bait.

How do you really feel? LOL.

 

[Practical Pig]

WFT with avocado toast? Can you please explain to me what the deal is? I was just asking a friend the other day why suddenly everyone is obsessing about it. Her response? "Because it's delicious". ¬_¬

It's a culinary fad with a veneer of health consciousness fueled by social media. Blame Pinterest. But if I have a ripe avocado lying around looking for a purpose, it's going on a bed of Fritos or Doritos, filled with some chili, smothered in cheese and scorched briefly in a hot oven. Get on that, Pinterest!

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Blame Pinterest.

You're right!

 

[Practical Pig]

You're right!

View attachment 233652

Well I be damned! First time for everything, I guess. I love that you checked.

 

[Disney Irish]

I think you might making this into more than what it is. One of my primary take-aways from the Time's expose is that the 2016 election resulted in significant changes in the makeup of the Anaheim City Council, with seats taken by candidates who campaigned on quality of life improvements first and Disneyland's demands second. Between Disneyland and certain members of the Anaheim City Council there was plenty of blame to go around, so the voters made a choice and here we are.

I think you are oversimplifying the article.

How the City Council manages the rest of Anaheim outside of the Resort District is not Disney's fault. Anaheim has X amount of budget, if the City Council chose to do Y (like spend 10s of Millions on multiple studies for the Light-Rail/Streetcar projects) with it instead of fixing up the under-served areas of Anaheim then that is on the City Council. Despite how the article wants to paint Disney's political contributions, Disney does not run the City Council nor control their budget. The City Council has a fiduciary responsibility to the City of Anaheim. And in my opinion is mismanaged. Disney is basically being used as a scapegoat for past City Councils that couldn't manage the budget properly.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I've come to learn that the whole US taxation system seems bunk. School funding isn't fully state regulated?

How is a city with such a massive employer and tourist industry so backwards? I don't think Disney is the root of the problem, it seems like America is.

As another colonial, though from further away from America, I have the same reaction.

Nothing in the article suggests Disney is doing anything illegal, but isn't that really the problem here? The system seems geared to create this kind of scenario where, of course, a big company like Disney will do all it can to maximize profits and minimize taxes and has a reasonable chance of doing so against a far less powerful city government. That then directly impacts a bizarre funding model for things like education tied to local taxes.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

This reminds me of the hooah over how companies were making orange juice in big industrial processes after an article "exposing " the practices went viral. People acted like this was some big new problem that had to be stopped!!! The share happy social media public was too oblivious to realize it wasn't some new expose... they were just ignorant of the realities of food processing.

Getting educated is phenomenal - over reacting without any real awareness... not so much

IIRC, there was a similar hooha when the Master Plan came out. Neighbors objected to the height of SpaceStation Earth and the new hotel towers. Businesses, some of whom were going to be bulldozed over for the project, protested much like they have with the Anaheim street car and the Eastern Gateway. Anaheim City Council’s cozy relationship with Disney was also called into question.

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2009/09/plausible-impossible-westcot-center-and_21.html

 

[Ismael Flores]

Maybe a company like Disney shouldn’t be taking money away from children to receive a quality public education and investments in community services like police and fire. That’s where the money should be going.

If Anaheim can’t support high end hotels without subsidies, then tough ****.

Of course, does Disney not bear some responsibility for the poverty in Anaheim on account of the low wages it pays, which in turn sets wages for the resort district?

No it does not, why should Disney bear the responsibility of poverty?
Disney is not taking anything that is not being offered to them or any other business. Low end motel brings in x amount of taxes and revenue demolish that and build a high end hotel and tax and revenue just increased. It’s foolish to say that if the city can’t support it then tough. City is not loosing anything it is actually gaining. Developers where not interested in buildings those high end hotels until the offer was put on the table and it wasn’t just Disney. Higher end hotels also mean that the convention center will now be able to book those higher end conventions they have been having trouble booking. Who gains from this? The city and its people.

It is not Disney or any corporations responsibility for any poverty level of the city. They offer jobs and it is up to the city to distribute money where needed.
You also fail to also see that even though it is not Disney responsibility they do indeed involve themselves with millions of contributions that they are not required to do

Disney is like any other corporation that has a job to offer. If it’s not what you want you just don’t take it and you search for something else. If the wage is not to your liking then you move on it’s as simple as that.

 

[Ismael Flores]

Of course. That’s why Bay Lake, Lake Buena Vista, Reedy Creek Improvement District and the EPCOT building code exist.

Disney just isn’t good at understanding its needs and if it doesn’t know what to ask for, it’ll blow its largesse for a pittance.

For example, the parking problem. Does Disneyland have a parking problem or a guest circulation problem? Why is it that every Magic Kingdom in world class cities like Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai have mass transit stops but DLR, just south of LA, doesn’t have one? TDA knows a lot about its guests and odds are they know where guests who park in Mickey and Friends and the Toy Story lot are coming from. Disney did try to extract a transit project out of Anaheim, but it was such a clunker it wouldn’t have been eligible for federal funding dollars. However, the need for mass transit options persists. So, shouldn’t Disney be pushing for the expansion of the LA Metro to Orange County and use its influence to determine the route and stops with a public-private partnership where each side wins?

Because Southern California always has groups of people waiting to protest about everything from airport expansions to mass transportation.
It’s not the lack of trying it is the constant political push back from people that don’t let things like public transportation get built or expanded.
People want more money, better transportation, better infrastructure more of everything but when projects get announced they Blame those same corporation for their misfortunes.

How many years has the Long Beach freeway north been stalled, how many years has the high speed rail systems been stalled, how many years have the airport expansions been stalled, how many years have light rail systems been stalled?
Always a reason to protest about them.
It’s insufcient, why are they spending that money when it should be put in my pockets, they are willing to spend billions in that but they pay a popcorn vendor or burger flipper more. It sounds never enough and these projects stall only to make them more expensive. Then next time we as a society can b.tch again that nothing is done

Disney and these cities where they have opened other resorts have all that infrastructure because the city and it’s people saw the need for it and they saw that at the end it benefits the city and ripple as a whole. That is why countries we label as third world are progressing while we stall because all we do is demand for more but push back with any little change comes along. Of course it’s always easier to blame a corporation for everything. We blame them for being to powerful and we also blame them for not being proactive.

 

[sirstude]

What I get the kick out of is the Times insinuating that Disney is not paying for the parking structure. As someone stated, it is quite common for a city to issue bonds for a project for a private business in order to get better interest rates. In general, that business actually makes the payments on the bonds and the $1.00 buyout at the end is just really paperwork. I would guess that Disney is making the bond payments on the parking structure. It could be possible that Disney is not paying, since I don't live down there and did not pay any attention to when that happened. Anyone out there know for sure?