Why Ron DeSantis may not be able to strip Disney World of its special status

[Kamaji]

Why Ron DeSantis may not be able to strip Disney World of its special status

By Ariel Zilber
April 27, 2022

Disney World may be able to keep the unusual self-governing status the theme park has enjoyed in Florida for decades — despite the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a law to revoke it.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District says that Florida cannot legally dissolve the Disney-dominated self-governing entity next year unless the state covers the estimated $1 billion in outstanding bond debt.

The district, which was created by Florida to entice California-based Disney to build a theme park on land that straddles both Orange and Osceola Counties in the late 1960s, is legally empowered to govern its own affairs.

Reedy Creek sent a letter to bondholders last week citing language of the 1967 law which states that Florida “will not in any way impair the rights or remedies of the holders…until all such bonds together with interest thereon, and all costs and expenses in connection with any act or proceeding by or on behalf of such holders, are fully met and discharged.”

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/04/27/why-ron-desantis-may-not-be-able-to-strip-disney-of-its-special-status/

[DefiantMassRINO]

The bastids used the outstanding bond debt to keep tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The couldn't eliminate tolls until the bonds were paid off ... guess what, when the old bonds were nearly paid off, they issued new bonds to keep the scheme alive.

Florida could issue general obligation bonds to pay off the bond debt - OR - Reedy Creek could enter re-organization bankruptcy to fiddle with the alleged bond debt.

[rustynail]

And the twitter sale may not happen.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1518947960297562112.html

[cato potatoe]

If he is still in office next year, DeSantis will pursue this until it comes to fruition.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Time to trot out a Harvard lawyer.

Disney vs. DeSantis: ‘Florida needs Disney World,’ Harvard professor says
DAVE BRIGGS: It's almost pay per view worthy, Disney versus DeSantis. It is the battle dividing Florida along party lines. But across the country, CEOs in all industries are eyeing the daily developments here, wondering how it might impact their company, how they should navigate these choppy political waters. Bill George is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, now a professor at the Harvard Business School. He joins us now. Good to see you, Bill.

BILL GEORGE: Thank you.

DAVE BRIGGS: Let's go back, if we can, to the start of this mess. Disney CEO Bob Chapek wanted to stay out of the controversy over Disney's so-called Don't Say Gay legislation, but the combination of angry employees and former CEO Bob Iger coming out against the law. He really had no choice. He offered this relatively mild statement. How do you think he handled it?

BILL GEORGE: Well, he should have thought about all these things first, I believe. I don't think he did his homework. We're in a different world today. He was acting like he was back in the 1990s. In this world of 2022, you have all kinds of stakeholders who expect you to take a position, especially your employees. Employees have found their voice. And particularly, in this post-COVID world, they want to be respected, whether it's a Minneapolis CEO when George Floyd was murdered or people on the LGBTQ+ side that want to be respected and heard from. They want their CEOs to speak on their behalf.

And when they don't do that, as Bob Chapek didn't, they get very upset and it leads to the kind of uproar we've had. And then they get to the worst case, which is a political crossfire with the politicians. And that's the last thing any company wants to get into. And Disney is right in the thick of it, and it's struggling to get out of this mess, as you called it.

DAVE BRIGGS: Even after the statement, he had the employee walkout. So what could Bob have done to keep them his employees happy and somehow stay out of the crosshairs of the governor?

BILL GEORGE: He should have gone back months before, talked to his board, talked to his leadership team. What do we stand for? Disney has always been very pro-family, but also very gay-friendly, if you will. And they should have made those points very clearly. And when this legislation started in Florida, they should have had a position ready to go. And they didn't have to lead with their chin, but they should have had a position that was true to their mission and values of what Disney is that accepts everyone for who they are.
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/disney-vs-desantis-florida-needs-210115935.html

[GtHawk]

Time to trot out a Harvard lawyer.

BILL GEORGE: He should have gone back months before, talked to his board, talked to his leadership team. What do we stand for? Disney has always been very pro-family, but also very gay-friendly, if you will. And they should have made those points very clearly. And when this legislation started in Florida, they should have had a position ready to go. And they didn't have to lead with their chin, but they should have had a position that was true to their mission and values of what Disney is that accepts everyone for who they are.

There's a blatant lie, Walt died in 1966 and that's when changes and rot started in Disney's roots. Disney started being 'gay' friendly in the 90's and that's about the time their anti family trend really kicked off, it was more subtle back then but really picked up steam the ten or fifteen years. The only reason Disney pandered to their "Queer" employees is because of the really large pretend alphabetsouper market. If a bunch of straight employees made a stink they would have been told shut up, stop tarnishing the Disney name or be fired. Disney totally misjudged their position and found out the people of Florida as well as across the nation are fed up with their queerifying family entertainment.