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

[lazyboy97o]

Why is this "terrifying?" TWDC, through excessive lobbying and payoffs, has gotten itself a uniquely privileged position that many others - competitors, etc - were never entitled to. They have chosen to pick a fight and use its governmental relations position and money to push for certain legislation. Given this vocal and public antagonism to the legislature, why is it "terrifying" that existing and past agreements come under reassessment?

It is purely retaliatory based on completely different issues. This has nothing to do with the actions of the District. There is no accusation that the District has failed to properly carry out its responsibilities, but because legislators don’t like the ideas of the leadership of the largest landowner in the district. Should Orange County be able to go after Deseret Citrus and Cattle because they don’t like something the Latter Days Saints say?

 

[Tha Realest]

It is purely retaliatory based on completely different issues. This has nothing to do with the actions of the District. There is no accusation that the District has failed to properly carry out its responsibilities, but because legislators don’t like the ideas of the leadership of the largest landowner in the district. Should Orange County be able to go after Deseret Citrus and Cattle because they don’t like something the Latter Days Saints say?

RCID is a creation and subsidiary of TWDC, to serve the corporate interests of TWDC. Why the attempt to separate the two?

 

[JohnD]

The bill very clearly specifies gender identity and sexual orientation. Thats the bill pretty clearly honing in on the LGTBQ community.

“Don’t say ‘Gay’”. Where have you been?

 

[lazyboy97o]

RCID is a creation and subsidiary of TWDC, to serve the corporate interests of TWDC. Why the attempt to separate the two?

Reedy Creek Improvement District is not a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Reedy Creek Energy Services, the primary utility provider in the District, is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

Legally the two are distinct and separate entities. Voting in the district is based on landholdings, and The Walt Disney Company is the largest, but not sole, landowner within the District. Yes, this gives Disney de facto control over the District, but the two are not inseparable. If Disney announced tomorrow that they were selling all of their hotels and the land they sit on to Marriott, then Marriott would gain voting power within the District proportional to their new land holdings. It’s sort of like those nearly ghost towns where cousins and siblings take turn being mayor and the whole family is on the city council because they’re the only one’s left in the town. Disney could go belly up and be liquidated tomorrow but the District would still exist.

 

[monothingie]

Imagine all of the RCID land zoning being in the hands of people TWDC can’t control.

Imagine property taxes completely controlled and set by OC.

This situation was entirely avoidable. Better leadership wouldn’t have let it get this bad.

 

[Brian]

Interesting reaction to the RCID news at TDO this morning.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Disney’s PR department is on fire

 

[sullyinMT]

Disney’s PR department is on fire

Lucky they have a self-governed FD at the ready .

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Disney’s PR department is on fire

I want to go out for cocktails with Zenia Mucha and Jayne Parker.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Quick! Announce what is replacing Dino-Rama!

 

[Lilofan]

Disney’s PR department is on fire

Reedy Creek on WDW property can be there within minutes to extinguish , if Orange County Fire Rescue would handle, they would be stuck in traffic on I-4 trying to get there.

 

[Brian]

A comical take, to lighten the mood

 

[Tha Realest]

Interesting reaction to the RCID news at TDO this morning.

Care to elaborate?

Also, isn't that investor thing still going on?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

For all these people supporting that bill... and taking the opportunity to once again express their support in another thread... I haven't seen a lot of support for removing the RCID.

Ending special benefits for corporations should be a bipartisan winner, honestly.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Nice strawman. No one is saying they should be taught sexuality.

No. The guy who introduced it said it was meant to stop turning kids gay as has been linked to and posted a number of times, hence why many of us have a problem with it. Why should I not believe the guy? I should just assume it will never be used in a negative way despite him saying that is exactly why he did it? The solution is simple. Add one or two of the amendments that clarify the law and restrict it to EXACTLY what they claim they are going for (and remove the civil suit side of it) and a LARGE chunk of the opposition disappears.

Read:

@ToTBellHop here's my objection.

- Concerned Citizen expresses a grievance that may or may not be legitimate.

- Legislators draft a bill that's poorly written, vague, and has other technical problems, but they tell the Concerned Citizen that it will address his concerns.

- Concerned Citizen, who is not an attorney, who may or may not be educated in general, and who may or may not be particularly astute, takes his Legislators at their word.

- Opposition to the bill gets upset and fights against its passage.

- Very Powerful People seek to appease Opposition, not by targeting the Legislators, but by targeting the Concerned Citizens with accusations of hatred and bigotry as if each of them is personally responsible for the problematic legislative language that they 1) are probably not aware of, 2) might not understand even if they are, and 3) might not even be capable of understanding because not everyone is a scholar.

 

[Tha Realest]

Disney gets to decide based on their function as landowner. You can’t force someone to sell you land. If the land is sold then the voting rights transfer with the land, they are not retained by Disney.

If this were truly an issue of governance then the state would also be going after The Villages.

This isn't generally how it's supposed to work, as landowners and a government jurisdiction are not typically a 1:1 thing. Voting rights reside with the residents of a given political subdivision, NOT the "land." Disney controls the voters by the fact that it dictates and controls who is entitled to live within that political subdivision. There is an inherent self-dealing involved, and, frankly, that appears to be an abuse of the representational democratic system that most of us operate under. This arrangement is offensive to many liberal sensitivities, setting aside the legislation debacle, and should be reassessed.

 

[el_super]

I actually don't like county government whatsoever. But states should either have strong counties or strong municipalities, not both.

But isn't that essentially what the RCID is? Just a corporate controlled local government?

I mean in the spirit of compromise I don't necessarily disagree that it should be looked at and possibly dismantled. Disney shouldn't get any special attention here. But for a long time I've been told by some that tax breaks and "business favorable" legislation was the only way that companies could grow and be successful, and that growth benefited everyone. I've long suspected though, it isn't true.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But isn't that essentially what the RCID is? Just a corporate controlled local government?

I mean in the spirit of compromise I don't necessarily disagree that it should be looked at and possibly dismantled. Disney shouldn't get any special attention here. But for a long time I've been told by some that tax breaks and "business favorable" legislation was the only way that companies could grow and be successful, and that growth benefited everyone. I've long suspected though, it isn't true.

Florida's primary unit of local government is the county. A municipal carve-out for an individual corporation reeks of cronyism (because it is, clearly).

 

[GimpYancIent]

Depending on who you are there are upsides and downsides to this whole Reedy Creek Improvement District issue, all the debate done, ultimately it would be best for all parties concerned to not disturb the current arrangement.

 

[ppete1975]

I always felt this was grandfathered in return for disney coming to florida. Imagine what florida would be if Disney hadnt built there...

On a side note, this and what california tries to do with land is pretty crappy. Its not like a normal busisness or a sports team that if they dont like what the government is doing they can move somewhere else. Disney really doesnt have that option.