The oversight board was blocked by Disney
The Disney World Board of Supervisors and a $38 An hour Contract to Increase Service Workers’ Salaries at the Disney World Resort in Central Florida
Disney will not be allowed to give THEMSELVES unprecedented power over land, despite their claim to it, according to the new board led by Governor DeSantis. for 30+ years,” Christina Pushaw, of DeSantis’ rapid response team, wrote on Twitter.
The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said at a meeting that their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with the company that gave Disney maximum developmental power over the theme park resort’s 27,000 acres in central Florida.
The governor appointed five supervisors to the board because of the Legislature’s changes to Disney’s government, which was related to the company’s opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
In taking on Disney, DeSantis furthered his reputation as a culture warrior willing to battle perceived political enemies and wield the power of state government to accomplish political goals, a strategy that is expected to continue ahead of his potential White House run.
A binding declaration, which does not end until England’s monarchy dies out, means that the former Reedy Creek Development board signed it back to Disney before leaving office.
“We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it,” board member Brian Aungst said Wednesday. “It’s a subversion of the will of the voters and the Legislature and the governor. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”
Taryn Fenske, Communications Director for the Executive Office of the Governor, said that Disney had been trying to execute contracts just before the new law was passed. A review shows that the agreements may be voided as a matter of law.
Separately, Disney World service workers on Wednesday were voting on whether to accept a union contract offer that would raise the starting minimum wage to $18 an hour by the end of the year.
The agreement covers around 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park resort, including costumed performers who perform as Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, bus drivers, culinary workers, lifeguards, theatrical workers and hotel housekeepers.
If approved, the five-year contract will see workers’ hourly wages rise by an average of $5.50 and $8.60 an hour.
Disney World and King Charles III: The Corporate Kingdom Becomes an End in the Nearly Twenty-One Years of Donald Trump’s Disgrace
The board that was taken over by a Republican governor last month is considering legal action over an agreement between Disney and the outgoing board.
“The lack of consideration, the delegation of legislative authority to a private corporation, restriction of the Board’s ability to make legislative decisions, and giving away public rights without compensation for a private purpose, among other issues, warrant the new Board’s actions and direction to evaluate these overreaching documents and determine how best the new Board can protect the public’s interest in compliance with Florida Law,” the statement from Fishback Dominick LLP, Cooper & Kirk PLLC, Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, Waugh Grant PLLC and Nardella & Nardella PLLC said.
DeSantis stacked the board with political allies, including Tampa lawyer Martin Garcia, a prominent GOP donor; Bridget Ziegler, the wife of the new chairman of the Republican Party of Florida; and Peri, a former pastor who once suggested tap water could be making people gay.
At last month’s signing ceremony for the bill that gave him control of Reedy Creek’s board, DeSantis declared, “The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end.”
In this case, the declaration will continue “until twenty one (21) years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III.” DeSantis, after all, frequently refers to Walt Disney World as a “corporate kingdom.”
The allies of Donald Trump, the governor’s main political rival, suggested that he had been out-maneuvered by Disney.
Taylor Budowitz, spokesman for the Make America Great AgainPAC, said that President Trump brokered peace in the Middle East. Ron and Mickey Mouse did not come to an agreement.
Florida’s governor, Disney World, and a special tax district are all making news again, this time with a new cast member: King Charles III.
The Board of the Reedy Creek Development District in Florida hasn’t done so since DeSantis’s 1974 Republican Term of Control
That means the five DeSantis allies who pledged to reign in one of Florida’s largest employers lack the ability to do much of anything, at least until they take legal action.
Last month, in a move widely seen as retaliation, DeSantis signed a bill giving control of a special tax zone surrounding Walt Disney World. The Reedy Creek Development District has allowed Disney to operate and expand with a lot of autonomy for the last 50 years.
The governor appointed five people to the board who supported him, including a Christian nationalist and a lawyer who donated $50,000 to his campaign.
The newly appointed board was sitting for its second official meeting on Wednesday when it announced it had made a discovery: It might not be able to carry out the agenda it planned.
Called a Declaration of Restrictive Covenants, the measure allows Disney to have the final say on any alterations to the property and requires the board to inform Disney of plans for such alterations without conditions or delays.
Basically, the board loses “the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure,” as board member Ron Peri put it, according to local news outlet Click Orlando.
The “Rule Against Perpetuities” was used to set the term of the agreement, which means that a policy will continue until after a certain person dies.
The tactic looked similar to one that Republicans have used following recent election losses. GOP-led legislatures in many places have increased their party power before handing over control of election laws to the Democrats.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1167042594/disney-desantis-board-reedy-creek-charles
Reply to Disney’s Comments on the Restrictive Covenant Agreement in Reedy Creek, Calif. (It Still isn’t)
As far as power moves go, this one does appear to be above board. There was a detailed note about the Restrictive Covenant clause in the Reedy Creek agenda. A day later, the agreement was registered with the Orange County Comptroller.
There is no need to obtain a public records request for all of those documents. Anyone could’ve attended the old board’s meeting on Feb. 8. (There were no public comments on the measure, which the board unanimously approved.)
And, yet, no one seemed to notice — or if they did, they didn’t raise an alarm. Not the board, the governor or the legislators actively monitoring developments.
When NPR asked Disney if it would fight the takeover it played it straight-faced and said it wouldn’t.
Worst case, could DeSantis just pass a new law? Maybe, but the consequences could be bigger if a law that more broadly takes action against restrictive covenants or special districts was enacted.
One of the governor’s earlier plans to dissolve all special tax districts in the state fell apart after analysts pointed out that doing so might ultimately raise taxes for the counties next to Reedy Creek, frustrating local residents.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1167042594/disney-desantis-board-reedy-creek-charles
Comment on ‘Two lawyers and one law firm in Washington’ by A.P. Cooper & K. Kirk [Rev. J. Phys. 97, 363-350]’
The board hired four outside law firms to look into the contract, including Cooper & Kirk. According to the report from the sentinel, the firm Washington, D.C. has been paid millions of dollars to help defend controversial policies.
NPR reached out to members of the board for comment but had not received a reply by the time of publication. One of the most high-profile members of the board said on a social networking site that they won’t back down.
