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

[lazyboy97o]

Please explain this to me as if I was a sleep deprived human (because I am)

There’s not much to explain. Views on state and executive power have changed and the changes to the District reflect those changes. It was not a one-off incident, or just theater, it is part of a broader series of changes that have taken place with many more proposed.

 

[tissandtully]

Let’s say this situation with Exxon took place in California. I would still be totally against having a governor appointed board with the power to levy extra property taxes on Exxon’s land, control over how their tax dollars were spent, and total zoning and permitting control over Exxon’s development of their land. This is all especially true if the reason for the change was due to Exxon’s exercise of free speech, even if I disagreed with their speech.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not looking at this situation through a partisan lens. What Florida has done to Disney is wrong and anti-American.

All I see is you arguing with this person I muted a while ago because their arguments are just not serious. I applaud your stamina.

 

[tissandtully]

Not that we didn’t already know this but Bob Iger mentioned this today:

Imagine the governor of a state not wanting to talk to the head of the largest taxpayer in the state. Just absolute nonsense.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Imagine the governor of a state not wanting to talk to the head of the largest taxpayer in the state. Just absolute nonsense.

This is the issue when you use populist politics as your method, you can't capitulate at all, at the risk of seeming weak to all the followers you reeled in with your populism.

He's dug himself into his own grave, and the simplest option (a meeting with Iger) will never be on the table now.

 

[Minthorne]

But Session is so perfectly located in a building that really gives it to you.

Welcome to Duloc.

 

[tissandtully]

This is the issue when you use populist politics as your method, you can't capitulate at all, at the risk of seeming weak to all the followers you reeled in with your populism.

He's dug himself into his own grave, and the simplest option (a meeting with Iger) will never be on the table now.

Yep and it's scary the only outcome in this mindset is further escalation.

 

[mkt]

There’s not much to explain. Views on state and executive power have changed and the changes to the District reflect those changes. It was not a one-off incident, or just theater, it is part of a broader series of changes that have taken place with many more proposed.

Oh, that much I get. But it's a reaction from when Disney decided to stop donating.

So if Disney were to restart political contributions in Florida, would the law find a way to be quietly undone, or would competent administrators be put into the current CFTOD?

 

[Minthorne]

Oh, that much I get. But it's a reaction from when Disney decided to stop donating.

So if Disney were to restart political contributions in Florida, would the law find a way to be quietly undone, or would competent administrators be put into the current CFTOD?

Money. Money changes everything. We think we know what we’re doing. We don’t know a thing. Money changes everything.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Yep and it's scary the only outcome in this mindset is further escalation.

Absolutely, it's a road that leads to no end. A deal with the devil, if you will.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think dissolving RCID was pure revenge

 

[lazyboy97o]

Oh, that much I get. But it's a reaction from when Disney decided to stop donating.

So if Disney were to restart political contributions in Florida, would the law find a way to be quietly undone, or would competent administrators be put into the current CFTOD?

No, because the point wasn’t just retaliation. The District was specifically reshaped to ensure it aligned with the new policy views and objectives. This wasn’t a one off occurrence.

 

[flyakite]

Orlando Sentinel article:

Three Republican state lawmakers walked out of Orange County’s legislative delegation meeting Wednesday, derailing consideration of a Democratic effort to repeal Gov. Ron DeSantis’ takeover of Disney World’s special district.

Sens. Jason Brodeur and Dennis Baxley, along with Rep. Doug Bankson, left the meeting just before a vote on restoring Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Their departure caused the delegation to lose its quorum. They didn’t mention the Disney bill before leaving but said they were upset with the delegation’s rules for picking leaders.

The remaining Democrats voted 7-0 to advance the bill, but they later discovered they didn’t have enough members present. As a result, the vote was invalid and will need to be redone, said Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who chairs the delegation.

“It’s disrespectful to the staff who spent hours preparing for this meeting and to the more than 100 members of the public who signed up to speak,” she said of the walkout. “I can only assume this was less about delegation rules and more about Republican lawmakers not wanting to take a vote on restoring Reedy Creek.”

The yearly delegation meeting is an opportunity for the public to address their elected representatives, but seven of the 14 members missed some if not all of the meeting. Three Republicans did not attend, and another three left before the lunch break. One Democrat also was absent.

Brodeur said he was upset about a rule that requires the delegation’s leadership to have at least 50% of their district in Orange County. That makes elected officials without a majority of their district in Orange County ineligible to lead the delegation.

“I don’t want to participate in a kangaroo court for whom the outcomes are already pre-determined,” he said. “This is silly. … It absolutely discriminates and limits minority access to leadership roles.”

He added, “anybody who needs to contact me knows how to find me,” and then he left.

Reached by phone after he left the meeting, Baxley said the Disney bill had nothing to do with the decision.

“This whole idea that some people are not to be included is disturbing when you are duly elected,” Baxley said. “We are equal, but some are more equal than others. I don’t like that.”

Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, said the walkout won’t stop her from introducing a bill to undo DeSantis’ takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. She said the delegation plans to consider it again next week, along with electing new officers.

“They haven’t discouraged me or derailed me yet,” Stewart said. “They can’t stop me.”

The bill, though, faces steep political odds in Tallahassee. The GOP-dominated Legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of overhauling the district. It also would face a DeSantis veto if it did somehow pass the Legislature.

The three Republicans who didn’t attend Wednesday’s meeting were Reps. Carolina Amesty, Susan Plasencia and Paula Stark. Democratic Rep. Bruce Antone also missed the meeting.

Eskamani said she was told Amesty couldn’t attend because of a family emergency, Stark was sick, Antone was at a conference and Plasencia did not give a reason.

Lawmakers will start their 60-day legislative session on Jan. 9.

 

[GrumpyFan]

The drama just keeps unfolding, and it's hilarious!

Lawmaker to propose bill to restore Disney’s Reedy Creek district

The state took over the special district earlier this year.

mynews13.com

 

[JohnD]

The drama just keeps unfolding, and it's hilarious!

Lawmaker to propose bill to restore Disney’s Reedy Creek district

The state took over the special district earlier this year.

mynews13.com

Thanks for the media reference but this forum as usual is already on top of this.

 

[mikejs78]

I've seen statements like this about oil, gas, Pharma, etc. Where is the line?

The line is "big oil needs to be reigned in" is different than "Exxon Mobile said something I don't like, so we are going to pass a bill that only affects Exxon Mobile to punish them".

If FL had passed a law that applied to *all* Special districts,.or passed a law that applied to *all* theme park operators in the State of FL, that would be harder to prove, especially if they said "theme park operators need to be reigned in", or "Special districts in FL need reform, they are all going to have governor-appointed boards.". That would be different.

But here you had legislation that affected *only* Reedy Creek, it created a system that didn't exist anywhere else in FL, and they openly stated that it was to target Disney for disagreeing with them.

So:
* Legislation targeting a single entity to treat them differently than anyone else

Combined with

* Stating on the record, by many legislators, that it was in retaliation for Disney's speech

Are what make this different.

 

[mkt]

So political talk is allowed on this thread? Awesome!

It's a fine line.

 

[James Alucobond]

So political talk is allowed on this thread? Awesome!

The actions of people in the political world as they pertain to the takeover of RCID, sure. Things that lean too much into personal political beliefs rather than general discussion about how the case might pan out tend to get deleted as much as anywhere else.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The actions of people in the political world as they pertain to the takeover of RCID, sure. Things that lean too much into personal political beliefs rather than general discussion about how the case might pan out tend to get deleted as much as anywhere else.

Although a bunch of seemingly good faith, legitimate questions regarding precedent seem to have been disappeared.

 

[James Alucobond]

Although a bunch of seemingly good faith, legitimate questions regarding precedent seem to have been disappeared.

C'est la vie.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The entire thing seems pointless. But whatever.

Good for you. For those who are interested there is a lot of very good information in this thread including some very specifically related to the history and development of Walt Disney World. You complain about people in the movie threads who have no actual interest in those movies but then periodically come in to this thread with a rather similar attitude of wanting it done away with because you’re don’t care.