Florida Governor Loses to Mickey Mouse
Minnie in shock as DeSantis’ plans backfire, and Disney takes a victory lap
It was never going to end well for Floria Governor Ron DeSantis — this battle with Disney’s Florida theme park executives. It’s one thing to take on Donald Trump — a man over half of America already despises for killing off hundreds of thousands with his botched approach to COVID — not to mention the tax break for billionaires that did nothing to help the average American. But Disney?
How is the home of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the cast of “Frozen,” and the favored playground of Donald Duck now the enemy?
Why DeSantis picked this fight
Disney execs believe all children, even gay children, deserve the right to be welcomed and accepted in the Magic Kingdom. However, DeSantis believes only Christian children who’ve been appropriately normalized into strict male/female behaviors consistent with our scientific knowledge of sexuality from the 17th century are worthy of acknowledgment and acceptance.
To DeSantis, inclusivity is a dirty word. How can we punish those who don’t look or think like us if we include everyone? How can we see acceptance as a plus when it means some of us won’t be able to use our superior nature to bend others to our will? How can diversity be good when it takes away the power of simple-minded white people to pretend they are better than everyone else? You see the problem.
For DeSantis, the pushback he got from Disney for his “don’t say gay” (aka Parental Rights in Education) bill was not to be tolerated. Florida’s governor believes neither teachers nor executives at Disney (whose entire business model is devoted to children) are qualified to decide how children should be treated. His answer: change the law so Disney can’t rule the Magic Kingdom anymore.
It began to unravel from the moment of inception
You may recall some problems with DeSantis’ approach from the beginning. DeSantis’ original “solution” to the “problem” he made up in his head was to strip the Disney corporation of its status as an “independent special district.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t think it through.
Almost immediately after DeSantis’ brainchild was announced, it became clear that there were issues no one had addressed.
The bill will undercut Disney’s autonomy, but it could impose a steep cost on Orange and Osceola counties, where the theme park is located. The two counties would inherit the Disney district’s debts, which officials say would result in higher taxes.”
“. . . when a county takes over a special district, it ‘shall also assume all indebtedness of the preexisting special district.’ In Disney’s case, that could put local governments on the hook for about $1 billion in bond debt.” — NPR
That’s a lot of debt for a couple of counties in Florida to absorb. Moreover, raising the funds to cover that debt would require at least a 20% increase in property taxes, which might still not be enough to cover the nut.
There were other problems as well. Specifically, the state of Florida would have to find a way to backfill all the services currently being provided by the theme park — things like ambulance services and fire trucks — all at taxpayers’ expense.
DeSantis gets blindsided
Not to be deterred, DeSantis created a special board to manage Disney World’s affairs and even hinted at some new restrictions, like preventing the theme park from implementing any COVID restrictions in the future. But then, shortly after their first board meeting, something unexpected happened.
It came to the attention of the newly created board that “their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers.”
While DeSantis and his cronies were chomping at the bit to take over the management of the 27,000-acre theme park by removing all members of the prior board (which had competently managed the property for over 55 years), the original board members were busy making their own agreements — agreements that virtually handicap DeSantis’ newly created board and may well make them accountable for union agreements set to raise the hourly wage of service workers (from $15 to $18/hour) and park employees, who could see their wages go up from $5.50 to $8.60/hour within five years.
But more importantly, the changes made before DeSantis’ board took over have the power to “limit the board’s action for decades.”
The response from surprised board members
“It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern,” said board member Brian Aungst Jr. Mr. Aungst also expressed genuine surprise at not being told of this sooner.
Had he been paying attention, he might have heard about it, given that “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.” — Disney company statement
Another spokesperson for the board said that the action taken by the prior board “effectively ties their hands and limits their ability to do their jobs.” — Reuters
They may be right about that.
In a meeting on February 8, the board approved a measure to strip itself of its broad authority (similar to that of a county) and to give Disney “prior review and comment” on any changes in order to “ensure consistency with the overall design and theming” of the park. The board also is not allowed to use Disney’s name or trademarks, including “fanciful characters such as Mickey Mouse.”
As new board member Ron Peri put it, “the measure ‘essentially makes Disney the government.’”
In other words, the only thing the new board can do now is “maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
SNAP!
Thank you for this report. I was curious what the outcome of the Disney debacle was and its impact on DeSantis political clout. KP