Ron DeSantis wants to appear above the political fray.
In his narrative, he is a kind of swashbuckling sheriff who frees Florida residents from the tyranny of scientists and people who support teaching history as it happened, not as some people wish it had happened.
The right-wing presidential candidate has also pushed the idea that he is a people’s fighter and works to force companies to pay their fair share.
That has been a key part of his justification for taking over the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district he gave to Walt Disney DES control over the land on which Disney World sits.
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DeSantis used the heavily Republican state legislature to end Disney’s control over Reedy Creek and replace its members with his hand-picked cronies.
He says the move was designed not to punish Disney for former CEO Bob Chapek speaking publicly against its so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation, but rather to simply end Disney’s special status.
“So all we want to do is treat everyone equally and move forward. “I totally agree with that,” he said earlier this year. “But I don’t agree with granting extraordinary privileges, you know, to a special company to the exclusion of everyone else.”
The problem, of course, is that Disney wasn’t the only one to have a special district. Florida has more than 1,000 of them, including districts controlled by Daytona International Speedway and The Villages 55+ retirement community.
Now, a new special district that is fully controlled by Disney’s main rival, Comcast CMCSA Universal Studios Florida has been created.
And Disney has cited the move in a new court filing, in its case attempting to show that Florida’s governor has singled out the company for retaliation because of its political stance.
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Universal Studios makes a profit that Disney lost
DeSantis did not create the special tax district that covers the land where Universal Studios’ new Epic Universe theme park will be located. But he also didn’t object or have anything to say about the fact that the new Shingle Creek Utilities and Transportation Community Development District will have nothing but Universal employees on its board of directors.
Walt Disney has used this point in a new court filing to show that the governor has singled out the company for punishment.
In repeated public comments, the governor stated that the laws do not harm Disney because they simply subject the company to the same regulatory structure applicable to all other Florida businesses, thus creating a “level playing field.” That statement is an absolute falsehood. In fact, a special district was established this month to regulate the land encompassing Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park in Orange County, and its inaugural board of supervisors is made up solely of Universal employees.
Disney’s new court filing also notes that the company faces a different regulatory situation than any other company in the state.
Additionally, most businesses and other property owners in Florida are regulated by elected and politically accountable municipal bodies. Few Florida businesses are subject, as Disney is now, to management by a special district with a board controlled by the governor that closely regulates the use of private property without accountability to the owners or local taxpayers.
Disney, Florida’s largest employer, has threatened to cut some of the $17 billion it had planned to spend in Florida over the next decade.
The company already canceled a planned $1 billion headquarters project in the Orlando area, which would have brought about 2,000 six-figure jobs to Florida.
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Iger speaks out against DeSantis
Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger has insisted that DeSantis has targeted his company for speaking out against his legislation. He has also pointed out the hypocrisy of the governor taking over the Reedy Creek district.
“(This) is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney somehow using its influence throughout the state of Florida. But since there has been a lot of talk about special districts and the agreement that we have, I want to establish the record. Let’s get right to that too. There are about 2,000 special districts in Florida. Most are established to encourage investor development; we were one of them,” he said during his company’s press conference. second quarter results call.
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“If the goal is to level the playing field on uniform law enforcement or government oversight of special districts it must be done or applied to all special districts,” he added.
