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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
You won't catch an argument from me on that one. It does strike me as a revenge move based on the company's politics. That said, similar, and in some cases, worse retaliations have happened against conservative companies and individuals, so I guess I shrug my shoulders and accept this is the kind of country we live in now, unfortunately.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Of course it’s beneficial! Nobody is saying it’s not beneficial. But it’s not beneficial in ways people assume. Most people don’t consider having to deal with your own sewage a benefit. Most people don’t consider higher costs to be beneficial. Not everything is zero sum, things can be mutually beneficial. This issue didn’t come up because the legislature did some serious study on the issue and found that it was no longer working to the benefit of the local community and/state.
Universal is now seeking a community development district to support the new rail station near the convention center. They’re proposing it because they want the benefits of improved transit in and to the area. The district gives them and the other landowners in the area a way to finance those desired services while Volusia and Osceola counties do not.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
I hope this is a joke/sarcastic comparison. Otherwise you lost me.
Dranth
Well-Known Member
Sure, the benefit is the control, but they are paying extra for that. Also, let’s look at the other side of that coin, if this is such a sweet deal for Disney why aren’t all these other companies lining up, begging for a special district. Nothing is stopping them.
Both leaders were elected in a sea of a red party which has a lock on the government, if you catch my drift. If not... just a throw-away line.
I would love to ask for a real counter, where a Democratic state trifecta crafts legislation that takes mutually financially and logistically damaging action against a business espousing conservative speech because I can't think of one myself, but that would probably get nuked, so feel free to just go ahead and think that I guess.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
You’re describing tribalism of the worst sort.
But here we are. They had every right to challenge the PRC. They are an a American company. Why did they not? You make a choice based on the possible outcome. It probably didn't look good. You are the one missing the point. You roll the dice and look at your odds. I was a police officer for 20 years in Chicago. I can tell you a lot about how we are "supposed to do things". That and reality are not always the same. What should be and what is are 2 different things.
Brian
Well-Known Member
Well, I'm told that a new draft of the RCID legislation coming tomorrow will require that they bring back Food Rocks. So that's one thing.
Kidding aside, I'm not suggesting that dissolution was the right move. RCID ceasing to exist without a replacement would have deleterious effects on the Central FL economy. However, as others have pointed out, Disney can exert control and powers usually delegated to a local government, something which other competitors in the space currently cannot say the same. Notwithstanding the benefit to the taxpayers, that is a bargain worth studying and scrutinizing.
Unfortunately, that was not the catalyst for the dissolution in the first place. Political revenge was. The aforementioned "level playing field" argument was used, rather poorly, as an attempt to masquerade the reality, diminishing what I see as a legitimate concern by alienating those smart enough to see through the rather transparent attempt at making it seem like it's not retribution.
One of the major things I take issue with is RCID being able to issue tax-free bonds for projects which directly benefit Disney. Classic example are the Disney Springs parking garages. Disney should absolutely have had to pay for those themselves. Did they pay for them by way of taxes to RCID? At the end of the day, yes, but they still realized tax savings since they were paid for using government bonds. Universal had to pay taxes to build their parking garages.
ETA: What could have been a fruitful, thoughtful and possibly bi-partisan conversation about how to address the "level playing field" quandary was instead turned into a laughing stock by using it as an excuse to exact political revenge.
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Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
What Chapek did wasn’t wrong, just stupid. It was stupid to step into a political fire but he had every right to do it.
In his defense I don’t think anyone could have dreamed a state would completely ignore 200 years of precedence and would retaliate against a company over a political stance and withholding political donations. We’re off the map here. It’s never happened in America before, not at this extreme level anyway.
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flynnibus
Premium Member
They also didn’t start at the same time… nor were they the same build. So… could there possibly be other factors that caused their timelines to differ??
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
And let’s completely ignore the decade or so that Universal’s Florida project spent in development hell because Universal didn’t want to pay the whole bill themselves, with Universal Orlando Resort only becoming fully owned by Universal within the past decade when Comcast bought out Blackstone’s 50% ownership stake.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Congrats on equating operating in America with operating under communist china dictatorship.
You really aren’t helping your cause - you should lose zero sleep over the gov punishing you for this. The fact you even entertain it as something they have to balance is disturbing.
We aren’t talking customers- we are talking your government
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The issue has been studied and reevaluated.
The I-4 Republic Drive Redevelopment Area exists for the purpose of providing things like transit infrastructure improvements around Universal Orlando Resort.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Uhhh because in china, china makes the rules? And saying ‘but we are American company’ means squat?
Please quote what I have said. Not just a small piece. Context means something. The way Disney does business means something also. They are willing to fight the state of FL but not the PRC. They know what is good for them.
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
America is interesting.
We live in a country where the government is supposed to guarantee your liberties and rights. Sure, it has some other tasks as well, but primarily, the government exists as a mechanism for rights. The foundational documents weren’t called the “Bill of Services,” but the “Bill of Rights.”
When infringement occurs, processes should guarantee appropriate resolution, but in situations like these, they challenge the adequacy of those systems.
Americans are a stubborn folk, we’re not to be w reckoned with. If you block our path, we will find another away. For infringement, those paths generally include the electoral and judicial processes, among others.
I believe it’s the role of American citizens to focus primarily on preservation of democratic ideals and rights, and everything else secondarily. Fiscal, education, agricultural, etc. policy all warrant designations at the political table, but I believe only when individual rights and Democratic ideals aren’t at stake. When Democracy is preserved, the fight for fiscal and other policies continues, but when democracy is sacrificed, that fight dies with it.
Just like the our foundational document is the Bill of Rights and not the Bill of Governance, we should focus on preservation of rights and democratic ideals first, and policy, culture, thereafter.
We live in a country where the government is supposed to guarantee your liberties and rights. Sure, it has some other tasks as well, but primarily, the government exists as a mechanism for rights. The foundational documents weren’t called the “Bill of Services,” but the “Bill of Rights.”
When infringement occurs, processes should guarantee appropriate resolution, but in situations like these, they challenge the adequacy of those systems.
Americans are a stubborn folk, we’re not to be w reckoned with. If you block our path, we will find another away. For infringement, those paths generally include the electoral and judicial processes, among others.
I believe it’s the role of American citizens to focus primarily on preservation of democratic ideals and rights, and everything else secondarily. Fiscal, education, agricultural, etc. policy all warrant designations at the political table, but I believe only when individual rights and Democratic ideals aren’t at stake. When Democracy is preserved, the fight for fiscal and other policies continues, but when democracy is sacrificed, that fight dies with it.
Just like the our foundational document is the Bill of Rights and not the Bill of Governance, we should focus on preservation of rights and democratic ideals first, and policy, culture, thereafter.
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Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Ahhh…buzzwords without meaning…I love this part of the play!
