Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went another round with The Mouse today, announcing that a legislative bill is in the works to nullify the recent agreements between Disney and the Vladmir Puddin’-appointed board overseeing the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
- The outgoing Disney-friendly members of the board that oversees the district outmaneuvered the anti-Mouse governor and approved an agreement with the company that gave it developmental authority over its theme park for decades to come.
- DeSantis has ordered his investigator general to look into the agreement, and said that Disney was “self-dealing” and the maneuvers were corrupted by “ethical violations.”
DeSantis said that even if the legislature didn’t revoke the agreement, which nullified the power DeSantis was hoping to attain over Disney, that the deal was a “sham agreement” that wouldn’t hold up legally.
Then DeSantis considered the idea that the board may decide to build a new prison on the district’s land.
DeSantis also asserted that state inspectors will be sent to examine rides within special districts, which would apply to only Disney. Universal and SeaWorld would remain exempt.
In a recent interview, Disney CEO Bob Iger called DeSantis’ moves “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”
“I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us. If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that,” he said. “You know, I’m one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldn’t do that.”
“Our sole goal in Florida is to continue creating that value for all those constituencies,’’ Iger said in the Time interview. “All we want is a relationship with the state that enables us to continue to do that,’’ he told Time. “We have the wherewithal and we have the desire to continue to invest there to grow that business so that we can hire more people so that we can increase our attendance, and so that we can basically increase more value for the Walt Disney Company and for the state of Florida. It’s that simple.”
Miami Herald
