The Florida Government is not pleased with The Walt Disney Company’s methods of granting the company government powers. An escalation from both sides is on the way.
Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference today in the Reedy Creek Administration Building. He did not mince words when discussing Disney and their methodology for attempting to maintain government powers in spite of the state taking over the special district formerly known as Reedy Creek Improvement District. Now it seems that Disney may have made changes in a way that is critically flawed.
In early April, DeSantis ordered an investigation into Disney’s last-minute power grab. A source familiar with the investigation revealed to The Federalist that Disney skipped key steps when amending its developmental agreement, rendering the resolution null and void.
According to Florida statute, local governments — in this case, the Reedy Creek board — are required to take three steps when making changes to special district agreements such as the one that established Disney’s quasi-governmental status. They must hold two public hearings, advertise those hearings in a local newspaper, and offer notice by mail to “all affected property owners before the first public hearing.”
…
The last requirement of Florida law, however, that all affected property owners be given notice by mail, was skipped entirely, according to sources familiar with Disney’s proceedings. The missed mandate means the company would have to restart the process for its 11th-hour resolution to be valid.
— Tristan Justice, The Federalist
While we don’t normally cite political websites in attempting to explain situations with theme parks, we’re a little bit stuck with this topic. It seems that no matter what side you’re on, the whole thing is political. The Federalist does a good job of identifying the problem with Disney’s efforts, so we’re happy to just Mr. Justice’s work to explain what is going on.
As far as Ron DeSantis goes, here’s the full press conference if you are so inclined to watch. He has a number of highly critical and potentially criminal claims regarding Disney’s actions. We’ll follow that with even more coverage in the days to come.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
