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Niles: Disney thwarts Florida’s bid to take over special district, but company needs oversight

April 4, 2023

Disney CEO Bob Iger delighted the Internet last week when The Walt Disney Company smacked down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with the slickest misdirect since Lightning McQueen learned to drift left by turning right.

But don’t let the jokes distract you from the fact that this was a conflict that never should have happened.

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DeSantis and his allies in the Florida legislature had been trying to scuttle the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District that governs the Walt Disney World Resort’s land. Florida’s move came after former CEO Bob Chapek criticized the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. But before the legislature voted to approve Reedy Creek’s replacement with the new, DeSantis-controlled Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, Reedy Creek’s board approved a Declaration of Restrictive Covenants that gave Disney Parks control over the resort’s planning and zoning for years to come.

But Disney did not stop there.

To guard against a legal prohibition of perpetuities, Reedy Creek tied its declaration to the lifespan of the last surviving current descendent of King Charles III. Yes, that means that control of the Walt Disney World Resort is now tied to the life of a literal princess (or prince).

How very Disney. All that was missing from Reedy Creek’s action was a little old fairy godmother telling the Florida legislature, “Bless your heart.”

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After DeSantis and his applies complained, Disney issued a statement that “All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.”

To that end, the company bought classified ads in the Orlando Sentinel’s legal notices section in advance of the meeting, telling everyone who bothered to read them exactly what Reedy Creek planned to do, and when. Well, let that be a lesson — always read the newspaper.

Another lesson from this farce should be that the notion of a company running its own government is insane. Disney’s competitor Universal has built a world-class resort just up the road in Orlando, under the inspection of local city and county government. Not even Disney ought to be exempt from that kind of oversight.

But what DeSantis proposed was not voter-controlled oversight. It was a power grab.

Orange County Register

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Niles: Disney thwarts Florida’s bid to take over special district, but company needs oversight

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