The new board of directors that controls Disney’s own territory will know on Wednesday whether agreements aimed at stripping them of their powers are valid, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Disney outmaneuvered Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in March by using a mysterious legal loophole, stripping the oversight board of the power it had placed to control a Florida theme park.
The rift between The Walt Disney Company and the state’s governor erupted in March 2022, when DeSantis passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, banning the teaching of gender identity in classrooms.
Disney has spoken out against the law — relying on private legal concessions it has held for decades in the so-called Reedy Creek Improvement District, which covers 40 square miles of company-owned land.
The Walt Disney Company celebrated too early, thinking it had won the war with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by pushing through two deals with the old Reedy Creek board before the new deal took over.
In response, DeSantis moved to revoke those self-government privileges by imposing his board of directors to run the district.
However, the governor appears to have pulled the rug out from under him after Disney made last-minute agreements to prevent his officials from taking office.
Impressively, the agreement states that the provisions will remain in force until “twenty-one years after the death of the last surviving descendant of King Charles III, King of England who was living as of the date of this proclamation.”
This “last survivor” is 1-year-old Princess Lilibet of Sussex, who lives in California.
Lawyers use the so-called “royal clause” to sidestep rules against contracts that often go on forever.
Disney got an early victory lap last month after reaching deals with the old Reedy Creek Improvement District board before handing power to a five-member committee appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But a person familiar with the investigation into the deals said they were carried out illegally and therefore “not worth the paper they’re written on”.
Investigators are expected to notify DeSantis’ newly appointed board of directors on Wednesday that those deals are void and that they can proceed to administer the previously special designated tax district.
Disney overplayed the hand after performing the victory roll. He comes to find out that all of their agreements are not legally valid,” the source told DailyMail.com.
Florida law prevents board members from meeting as a group outside of public hearings, so Wednesday’s presentation will mark the first time the new Central Florida Tourism Control District board has heard on issues related to the deals.
During the board meeting, DeSantis will give two separate speeches in the South Carolina primary, spreading the word about Florida’s blueprint for America.
Speculation is growing that DeSantis plans to announce a bid for the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential race. He is the only candidate who comes close to running against former President Donald Trump.
The Central Florida Tourism Control District Board will meet Wednesday to hear a presentation on how deals intended to strip them of their powers are void because the old board did not give a proper notice period, a source familiar with the investigation told DailyMail.com.
Much of DeSantis’ policy outline includes the Parental Rights to Education Act, which bars the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in classes to children through the third grade — a law Disney disapproves of.
Since then, DeSantis and Disney have been at war — coming to a head when the governor took control of a special district that allowed the company special privileges that other companies in the state didn’t have.
What makes Reedy Creek’s deal with Disney illegal, the source told DailyMail.com, is that the old board has not mailed notice of the hearings they were conducting to adopt the new contracts with Disney, which is required by Florida law. in the public notice period.
The person familiar with the investigation told DailyMail.com that the board will know that while the Reedy Creek board essentially gave Disney local government powers, the district got nothing in return.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District was created in 1967 and is given special franchises by Disney. In DeSantis’ war with Disney, he stripped its pro-Disney board of directors of jurisdiction and renamed it the Central Florida Tourism Control District with its five-member board of directors.
“One of the things we usually think about in a contract is you have to think about it or something of value,” the source explained. It’s a trade-off. You know, I have to give you something, you have to give me something so that we can have such a binding contract that we both have to perform under it.
“So, the area here has given a lot to Disney,” they added. So, this gives Disney all those powers that the local government has, and Disney doesn’t give anything back to the area.
Disney says “Hey Neighborhood, if for any reason you ever need to purchase a property from us in the future, we will sell it to you on the fair market.” Well, that’s what the law requires, anyway. So this is a losing theory.
Giving a corporation essentially the powers of local government is also against Florida law because of the Sunshine State’s doctrine of non-delegation.
“What they’ve done is they’ve delegated to Disney so many government agency functions that it violates our non-authorization jurisprudence, which is another reason these documents, these agreements are void,” the source said.
When a notice period is implemented incorrectly, the whole process must start from scratch – and a new board of directors will be less willing to enter into an agreement created entirely by the company they seek to regulate.
Disney was granted special privileges and exemptions when the Reedy Creek Improvement District was created in 1967.
