Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided to make Walt Disney -- his state's largest tourism driver -- his top nemesis.
The right-wing candidate for president has targeted the Mouse House because its former chief executive, Bob Chapek, after being pushed by his employees, spoke out against DeSantis's so-called Don't Say Gay legislation.
Lots of other companies disagree with the strict rules Don't Say Gay imposes when it comes to even mentioning LGBTQ+ issues in schools. But none issued a statement from its CEO.
That pushed DeSantis to make an example of Walt Disney (DIS) -) and replace its Reedy Creek Improvement District -- one of thousands of special districts in the state -- with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The change effectively took control of the land Disney World sits on away from the company and gave it to DeSantis's handpicked board. That seemed a win for the governor, but in one of the Reedy Creek board's final acts, Disney outsmarted DeSantis.
A Feb. 8 Development Agreement between Disney Parks & Resorts and the Reedy Creek Improvement District sets a plan for the next 30-plus years, BlogMickey.com reported.
"Essentially, Disney was able to ink a plan with the [Reedy Creek] Board at the time that would neutralize any plans that the new Board would put in place. This has been described by industry watchers as a sort of 'insurance policy' against an activist Board, and the new Board members are not happy about it."
That action led to multiple federal lawsuits. And now, Disney is using the governor's own words against him in one of those lawsuits.
Disney Turns DeSantis's Words Against Him
There are currently two lawsuits regarding the dissolution of the Reedy Creek district. Disney's essentially seeks to roll back the governor's actions. DeSantis's lawsuit more or less asks for his changes to be recognized by the courts.
Instead of waiting for the case to play out in court, DeSantis used Florida's Republican-controlled legislature to push through his changes. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has filed a motion to dismiss Disney's case, calling it "classic Imagineering, inviting the Court to make believe that reality is whatever Disney dreams up."
Now, in a June 30 filing, Disney has responded to the Oversight District, asking the judge to quickly resolve the case in favor of the company. In its response, Disney uses multiple quotes from DeSantis to support its case against the CFTOD, Blog Mickey reported.
"The newly appointed CFTOD Board announced that it would not comply with Disney’s contracts because they were void under Florida law. For good measure, the State also enacted a law barring CFTOD from complying with the agreements in any event," DeSantis said in his comments about dismissing Disney's federal lawsuit.
Basically, Disney is arguing that "Senate Bill 1604 invalidates the Development Agreement at the heart of the state-level case," the website reported.
Disney points to the quote as "evidence that the court cannot rule on SB1604 because it is already void according to the governor of the state:"
The next hearing in the state-level case is set for July 14.
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Disney Wants Equal Treatment
DeSantis has argued that the Reedy Creek district gave Disney special treatment. Disney CEO Bob Iger took major exception to that assertion during the company's second-quarter-earnings call.
"This is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida," he said.
"But since there’s been a lot said about special districts and the arrangement that we have, I want to set the record straight on that, too. There are about 2,000 special districts in Florida. Most are established to foster investor development -- we were one of them."
Iger pointed out that Disney employs more than 75,000 people at Disney World and that both the Daytona Speedway and The Villages retirement community also have special districts.
"If the goal is leveling the playing field, then a uniform application of the law of -- or government oversight of -- special districts needs to occur or be applied to all special districts."
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