Figgy1
Well-Known Member
Source?
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News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
- Thread starter castlecake2.0
- Start date
Brian
Well-Known Member
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
Isn't the list of items reported under "lavish spending" just the list of RCID employee benefits we already knew about? The district chose to pay for these things and offer them as benefits to attract and retain employees. That is their prerogative, and there is nothing inherently problematic about it. Most of the accusations in the document are vague and suggest that the arrangement leaves the doors open to abuse, but very little real abuse is described that doesn't seem to be a massive stretch. At the very least, nothing explains why or how a governer-appointed board better serves the district's constituents.
Document linked above by @DCBaker.
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
Page(s)?
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
Starts on 91, supposed lavish spending outlined starting at 106.
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
I just did a quick scan and that's all I saw as well. Wasn't all that covered several dozen./maybe hundred pages ago?
flynnibus
Premium Member
I'm still reading it... but the report really doesn't start off on a level footing at all.
1 - The report was supposed to be to fillfull the requirement for the district to generate "a report that includes a review of all remaining powers and authorities included herein and any recommendations for consideration of eliminating said powers and authorities for potential repeal by the Legislature" -- This is not supposed to be some expose or investigative reporting on ethics or whatever this thing tried to dig up.
2 - It doesn't get off to a good footing when the introduction includes lines like "His stroke of the pen formed a special district—one that facilitated the most egregious exhibition of corporate cronyism in modern American history."
I still have to read through this, but right from the start it sure looks like an egregious abuse of the district's funds to try to setup a witchhunt report under the guise of auditing the scope of the special district's definition.
The report even labels itself "What follows then is the first substantive independent audit of an entity that fueled the rise and shielded the dominance of a company at the expense of the public good. Its revelations are, simply put, shocking"
This is not the purpose of the law passed in 2023 which is to report on the district -- not the district that no longer exists.
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Brian
Well-Known Member
The 'lavish spending' refers to the benefits, similar to what Disney provides to its own CMs, which originally Disney provided to RCID at no cost, but later the district took on as expenses. When they took them on as expenses, they did not pay the taxes for the benefit to the IRS, either by deducting from the employees' pay, or reporting it on the employees' pay and paying it on their behalf. When it was brought to Classe's attention that it was a taxable benefit, he declined to treat it that way and classified it as 'employee training.'
The 'improper cash gifts' refers to how Disney would not only provide at no cost the parcels of land to board members (during their term), but also pay their property taxes, further entrenching them in the "Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me" mentality.
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I'm reading it. It's clear that this was written to paint Disney in as negative a light as possible.
Bringing lots of things to light which were already public knowledge and making them seen illegal and unethical... which they weren't.
What I find hilarious is "potential corruption" paragraph, when the current CFTOD is the entity that's actually corrupt. That's like me being accused of "potential murder" because I accidentally bumped into someone in a hallway.
Not to get into the validity on any claim, or how far reality is stretched to fit a narrative, but perhaps the state should have sanctioned this report BEFORE making the changes and pointing to it as the reason for legislature. Honestly, if they did and the governor kept his mouth shut on the real reason why it was done then Disney would probably have 0 chance in a lawsuit. But the governor needed a quick win and wanted to boast how and why he did it for his presidential campaign. Waiting until now for this report would have been pointless to his campaign as it stands.
The Mouse still makes money off of Swan and Dolphin via the hotels paying the lease to Mickey.
I didn't get very far, but noticed this:
That sounds factually incorrect to me. Didn't the law go out of it's way to say that RCID was not being removed and just renamed.
That sounds like it is implying that a new district was created, to replace the one abolished above. Which, again, didn't the law specifically say this is not what was being done? Along with, aren't the methods to create a new district well defined and not what was done.
Both "not the District" and "other property owners" are carrying a lot of implications here. Are their any "other property owners" within the District that are not already restricted to oversight and approval by Disney for anything they want to do? That the "District" would have priorities that are in conflict with their constituents as a goal also comes across as wrong for a government that is accountable to it's constituents.
Assuming the rest of the document plays this loose with facts, what's the point. It might as well be treated as fiction.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The problem though is that any report with a modicum of honesty would have had serious negative implications for major donors and constituents.
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
Lost me at “lavish”, it’s clear this report in immensely biased
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
IMHO The Gilded Age last night rang truer and in that episode
The robber baron wound up sort of on the side of the workers
Sure, but doesn't Disney get that lease payment regardless if a holiday party is hosted at Swan and Dolphin? The way it was written (Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin, no footnote stating it's owned an operated by a 3rd party) it makes it seem like it was improper way of funneling money back to Disney.
flynnibus
Premium Member
If there is any doubt about the political slant of this report... statements like this should tell you everything you need to know.
"The RCID had inadequate procurement policies that did not ensure the District obtained the best price or highest quality goods and services for its contracts. Instead, the District engaged in race-conscious DEI programs that discriminated against contractors on the basis of race"
"The RCID had inadequate procurement policies that did not ensure the District obtained the best price or highest quality goods and services for its contracts. Instead, the District engaged in race-conscious DEI programs that discriminated against contractors on the basis of race"
Brian
Well-Known Member
Is it not racist to discriminate on the basis of race? Worse yet, is it appropriate to make selections for vendors based on their race instead of which will offer the highest quality at the lowest price?
Of all the politically-tinged elements of this report, I'm shocked you picked such weak sauce.