On Wednesday, “King Charles III” started trending on the hellsite, Twitter. At first I thought that Charles had screwed up in the first day of his first state visit to Germany. But no, this is the rare moment where Americans dragged the British monarch into their legal mess. For months now, Florida’s Gov. DeSantis has been engaged in a war with Disney. For decades, Disney has gotten sweetheart deals from the local and state government in Florida, and they basically (and in all senses legally) operate Disney World as their own separate fiefdom. Disney World doesn’t have to follow most of the laws of the state of Florida, basically. Disney has stood up to DeSantis when it comes to Florida’s bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” law, and Disney stands up for their LGBTQ employees. DeSantis tried to appoint a new board to oversee Disney’s operations, only Disney legally blocked DeSantis weeks ago:
The battle between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may not be over yet. The new board handpicked by the Republican governor to oversee Disney’s special taxing district said Wednesday it is considering legal action over a multi-decade agreement reached between the entertainment giant and the outgoing board in the days before the state’s hostile takeover last month.
Under the agreement – quietly approved on February 8 as Florida lawmakers met in special session to hand DeSantis control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District – Disney would maintain control over much of its vast footprint in Central Florida for 30 years and, in some cases, the board can’t take significant action without first getting approval from the company.
“This essentially makes Disney the government,” board member Ron Peri said during Wednesday’s meeting, according to video posted by an Orlando television station. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintaining the roads and maintaining basic infrastructure.”
In a statement to CNN, Disney stood by its actions.
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law,” the company said. Documents for the February 8 meeting show it was noticed in the Orlando Sentinel as required by law.
Multiple board members did not immediately respond to request for comment. The Sentinel first reported on Wednesday’s vote to hire legal counsel.
According to a statement Wednesday night from the district’s acting counsel and its newly obtained legal counsel, the agreement gave Disney development rights throughout the district and “not just on Disney’s property,” requires the district to borrow and spend on projects that benefit the company, and gives Disney veto authority over any public project in the district.
[From CNN]
So, what does any of this have to do with King Charles III? Well, Disney’s lawyers worked with the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District to include specific language that the deal they worked out – giving Disney vast control over their fiefdom – about how this deal “shall continue in effect until twenty one years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III.” Meaning, unless all of King Charles’s descendants get killed off, DeSantis is screwed and so are the next ten Florida governors.
— Mike DeForest (@DeForestNews6) March 29, 2023
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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