Walt Disney didn’t do everything they were supposed to do when they got the Reedy Creek Improvement District to sign over the authority for their 27,000 acres of land in their effort to evade the takeover of the newly appointed DeSantis board.
Disney missed a crucial legal step in the process which means their last minute power grab is legally null and void:
THE FEDERALIST – Disney leadership thought the company out-maneuvered Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this year after a last-minute agreement with local officials gave the theme park virtually unlimited developmental power. But sources tell The Federalist that Disney’s corporate lawyers missed the fine print in Florida statute governing tourist districts.
In February, supervisors running the Reedy Creek Improvement District signed an 11th-hour resolution to hand Disney maximum authority over the company’s 27,000 acres in central Florida. The late agreement effectively left the DeSantis-appointed successors on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board — which replaced the Reedy Creek board — powerless to govern Disney in their own state.
“This essentially makes Disney the government,” said Ron Peri, one of the new board members appointed by the governor, at a Feb. 27 meeting. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
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.”
Let’s cut to the chase. Disney failed to notify all affected property owners by mail before the first public hearing. They only executed two of the three necessary legal steps correctly, which means their effort to take over the 27,000 acres is a legal failure.
This should mean that the newly appointed board by DeSantis does have the authority over the land which they were granted by the state legislature. I guess we’ll find out when the results of the investigation are made known publicly.
This also means all the mocking of DeSantis over this, including from Trump this weekend, is also null and void.
UPDATE: Governor DeSantis says “Disney’s corporate kingdom is over”:
Disney’s sloppy and futile attempt to subvert the will of the Legislature and Floridians was uncovered by our state oversight board and their 11th hour agreements will be nullified by the Legislature.
Disney’s corporate kingdom is over. pic.twitter.com/GomGyfEDLS
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 17, 2023