Florida lawmakers have voted to strip Walt Disney of its special self-governing status

Pepper said:
If I understand correctly, now Disney's residential neighbors will have to pay for services that Disney provided, like trash, fire fighters & equipment, security, lots of stuff costing them millions.
Click to expand...
Why not? Everybody else has to pay their own way. And I suspect Disney had a way of charging the residents for these services. Disney ain't a non-profit charity...
Nosy Bee-54 said:
If it goes into law, local taxpayers will end up with $1 billion in bond debt.
Click to expand...
Maybe so, but the whole story isn't reported. I am sure Disney will try to off load as much debt as possible with this thing, and get as much out of it as possible. They are good at that. Here is a quote from the article @Nosy Bee-54 cited:

“The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a local government right now,” he said. “So the taxpayers of that district already owe that money. Yes, the bonds would go to other municipal governments in the same place. But the revenues go along with it. Disney is taxed by this improvement district. Those taxes are used to pay that debt.”

May or may not be true, but we don't have the whole story.

Its time, in fact way past time, to cut Disney lose from this sweetheart deal and start treating them more like everyone else. I am sure it will be a bit painful, but it needs to happen.
 
It's an election year, with 2024 Presidential hopefuls, so the show must go on.. And Disney World does consider itself as the 51st state. They had special work laws. The costumed characters were only paid for the time they were actually on display, and not for all the time they were in the costume. I know that because a friend went during a strike at Disney.
Do I think Florida is going to bite the Mouse that feeds it? The state law probably has more loop holes, like Swiss cheese, just what a Mouse likes..
 
Every business that I can think of has to pay their fair share of taxes for services and do not have the right to self-govern their corporation or have other special privileges. These were given to them when Disney first moved to Orlando. I visited the area the year before they opened and the year after they opened. The traffic around that area was already becoming congested.

Florida has spent a lot of money building roads to get into around and out of that area and yet, any time of the day or night, it’s still very difficult navigating around that area. The Secretary of Florida’s treasury made the comment that neither Universal or any of the water parks or other theme parks in that area receive any special treatment, so it’s only fair that Disney pay their fair share as the other entertainment operatives in that area.

A month or so ago, Disney announced they would be doing more for the LGBT community of employees they have working for them. They decided not to refer to children as boys and girls, but as “all” as in “Welcome All,” instead of “Welcome Boys and girls.” There are other things they will be changing that will fall more inline with how the LGBT community operates. Since that time, Disney has received numerous cancellations, including the Florida resident yearly pass.
 
I'm kind of pissed that Disney had this deal to begin with.

I don't support the Governor as he is breaking the First Amendment, using Government to punish free speech. People who complain about censorship on private forums, aka Facebook, Twitter, don't understand that the First Amendment only deals with Government reactions to speech.
 
Pepper said:
I'm kind of pissed that Disney had this deal to begin with.

I don't support the Governor as he is breaking the First Amendment, using Government to punish free speech. People who complain about censorship on private forums, aka Facebook, Twitter, don't understand that the First Amendment only deals with Government reactions to speech.
Click to expand...
Yep, a case of doing the right thing, for the wrong reason.
 
Pepper said:
I'm kind of pissed that Disney had this deal to begin with.

I don't support the Governor as he is breaking the First Amendment, using Government to punish free speech. People who complain about censorship on private forums, aka Facebook, Twitter, don't understand that the First Amendment only deals with Government reactions to speech.
Click to expand...
Maybe I am not understanding your post, but this is what those social media outlets do. They pick and choose what or which postings, topics or information they will allow or they take them down and sometimes will even suspend the poster. That’s not free speech. If Elon Musk is allowed to purchase Twitter, (this is a hostile takeover, so it may be some time before we know the outcome) he has said that he will allow free speech, including open debate.

Would you please explain further? Thank you.
 
It's simply this @oldman. I did copy it, it is simply this:
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference.

That's government interference. A private organization is free, within certain limits, to censor, to set it's own rules covering behaviors, etc. One may not like it, but that's the way it is.

The Governor of FL is government. He didn't like that Disney disagreed with him and used his powers to punish.

Personally, as I said, I don't think Disney should have gotten that deal in the first place. I don't mind it being rescinded, just the intent to punish for asserting a differing opinion.
 
oldman said:
Every business that I can think of has to pay their fair share of taxes for services and do not have the right to self-govern their corporation or have other special privileges. These were given to them when Disney first moved to Orlando. I visited the area the year before they opened and the year after they opened. The traffic around that area was already becoming congested.

Florida has spent a lot of money building roads to get into around and out of that area and yet, any time of the day or night, it’s still very difficult navigating around that area. The Secretary of Florida’s treasury made the comment that neither Universal or any of the water parks or other theme parks in that area receive any special treatment, so it’s only fair that Disney pay their fair share as the other entertainment operatives in that area.

A month or so ago, Disney announced they would be doing more for the LGBT community of employees they have working for them. They decided not to refer to children as boys and girls, but as “all” as in “Welcome All,” instead of “Welcome Boys and girls.” There are other things they will be changing that will fall more inline with how the LGBT community operates. Since that time, Disney has received numerous cancellations, including the Florida resident yearly pass.
Click to expand...
All this sounds like the politically correct demanding that they have things their way! If all you can argue about is calling "boys and girls" all then you got problems that don't really exist. Disney needs to realize that there is a war going on in Ukraine and it is affecting many countries in this world. Has Disney heard about inflation, rising interest rates, transportation bottlenecks and global warming? Perhaps someone should tell them what is really important.
 
Packerjohn said:
All this sounds like the politically correct demanding that they have things their way! If all you can argue about is calling "boys and girls" all then you got problems that don't really exist. Disney needs to realize that there is a war going on in Ukraine and it is affecting many countries in this world. Has Disney heard about inflation, rising interest rates, transportation bottlenecks and global warming? Perhaps someone should tell them what is really important.
Click to expand...
I was watching English Premier League football this morning. Stadiums were pack with fans screaming in delight. Now watching the NBA playoffs (Philadelphia vs. Toronto) and the arena is full of fans enjoying themselves. People and businesses moving ahead regardless of war in Ukraine or in the Ethiopian-Tigray conflict that has been going on since November 2020. The world's deadliest war is not in Ukraine.

"Though the war's true toll is impossible to know, researchers from Belgium's Ghent University estimate as many as half a million people have died so far: between 50,000 and 100,000 from the fighting, 150,000 to 200,000 from starvation and more than 100,000 from the lack of medical attention."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...f4b83c-a9b6-11ec-8a8e-9c6e9fc7a0de_story.html

People and the world do not stop for war or tragedies!

As for free speech, regardless of how many times it is pointed out that it pertains to government, certain people will come back with their emotional/political angle.
Happens every time an employer fires someone for mouthing off in public which was
deemed detrimental to the company.
 
Nosy Bee-54 said:
As for free speech, regardless of how many times it is pointed out that it pertains to government
Click to expand...
You are right of course, however we all have the power to punish or reward most companies for what they do or say. We choose where and how we spend our money.

More of us should recognize this power and exercise it.

I don't support Disney, try never to send a dollar their way. However it is for different reasons...
 
It's now the law:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned people to "buckle up" as he signed a bill giving the state control over Disney's sprawling Orlando theme parks.

The bill strips power uniquely held by Disney for over 50 years and enables more oversight by Mr DeSantis' Republican-led legislature.

Ron DeSantis tightens his control over Walt Disney World​

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64792926
 
Reedy creek assessed the land owners in their special district for the services it provided. Fire, medical, roads, water, waste water ect. It was a way to control the quality of those services and insure the park could develop and grow safely. Now the state will be responsible for providing and paying for those same services. For the landowners in Reedy creek jurisdiction this will no doubt be a decrease in services. Also by setting up the district and paying for those services to be built and maintained the reedy creek landowners knew exactly where their money was going. This is a situation of “be careful what you ask for” with Floridians. Hope it all works out.
 
Pepper said:
I'm kind of pissed that Disney had this deal to begin with.

....
Click to expand...
These 'deals' have been going on for decades/centuries at this point. I've seen it with colleges taking over chunks/neighborhoods in big cities. Many of these corporate centers or campuses the same thing.

The government shouldnt' be selling the public's property or rights in general. It's onething to rent and lease it and have them foot ALL the costs so they are self contained but it really shouldn't be sold especially land. Its onething to sell surplus equipment and supplies which always can be replaced but land/property cannot.
 
Nobody wants to kill the cash cow. Disney is not a real warm & fuzzy corporate entity. I wouldn't be shocked if Disney makes out like a bandit within the details of the "takeover", like the state taking over some of Disney debt?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top