You could be right, especially considering that the Florida Supreme Court is composed of a bunch of political lackeys. However, I would guess that the recent restrictive covenants are helpful to the State and counties.
Apparently DeSantis is saying a corporation doesn’t have the same rights as a person, but Riggs (203 U.S. 243 (1906), and the 1st Amendment may have something to say about that. I’m not a constitutional scholar but it seems to me that DeSantis, and the Florida Legislature, decided to go all Trump and just couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They were very open that they were punishing Disney over its objections to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and stopping political donations to republicans. Had they not been so Trumpy about their reasons for doing the takeover then they just might have gotten away with it.
I find it fairly humorous that a large segment of Too Hot who normally rail against evil, giant, greedy corporations, are dancing in the streets because an evil, giant, greedy corporation colluded with small-time local officials to grant the corporation special privileges and, in doing so, stick it to the governor. Too Hot really can be Bizarro World sometimes.
Disney sure pulled a fast one on those knuckleheads!!! The State of Florida received its largest employer, larges tax payer, biggest attraction and draw for visitors that allows us to have no income tax, and biggest developers, all for the right of that greedy business to develop its property that it owns, in a manner consistent with such large scale developments. What a bunch of suckers!those small time “locals” proved to be!!!
I could note that a lot of folks who for years were very quick to defend the "job creators" act like purported champions of the people now that many corporations are becoming more liberal on social issues and taking positions they don't like. I suppose we can look for hypocrisy on both sides. I think DeSantis is way off base here even if I don't understand all of the details. It would be one thing if he had a principled objection to special districts and thought they were unfair to tax payers or bad for Florida. But this all seems very retaliatory because they challenged him about a piece of legislation. DeSantis has boasted of understanding how to use the leverage of government power to get what he wants. I think this is wrong even assuming he has some legal arguments moving forward.
If FSU lost in humiliating fashion to Georgia on a stupid error I (along with most of the board) would laugh my ass off too, I don't know why its so remarkable.
Florida continues to approve special districts. I am involved as a consultant for one approved in the last year that is preparing to issue close to $100M in tax free bonds for infrastructure development. He has no problem with special districts unless they tell him something he doesn't like
That's because you missed the obvious. The governor is far more evil than the corporation and he (the governor) deserved to get this shoved up his petty, vindictive ass. Why should Disney have committed that many billions of dollars to putting central Florida on the world's map without assurances they could develop their property as they reasonably saw fit? It's not Too Hot being "bizarro" here.
I’m curious, would you support the same Disney arrangement for other corporations? I don’t get worked up for either side on this. I just think it’s interesting when people will gleefully support the apparent other side because something else they perceive as worse. I guess it’s like people who didn’t like Trump still voting for him because they think the Democrats were worse. I sure did enjoy quadrupling my money on Disney stock. But I don’t think Disney invested in central Florida as a charity. They have made boat loads of money there. I think that post has generated more double bacon for me than any I’ve ever had. Give me some bread, lettuce, and tomatoes, and I’m set for dinner tonight.
Small-time local officials? The state of Florida fell down on its knees to get Disney to locate there. Reneging on an agreement for political showmanship is what people myself included find distasteful. I am repulsed by the Disney culture and never took my kids despite our proximity living in G’ville.
That’s so sad for your kids. You refuse to take them to Disney World, the happiest place on Earth, because you find them distasteful?
Speaking only for the State of Florida, the answer is certainly, yes, given that there are roughly 1800 special districts granted after Disney, including DeSantis’ favorite stomping grounds, The Villages. I’d ask you the question, though, if you were the Governor of Florida back in 1967, when Disney was in its infant stages: Would you grant them the special district to manage their own property and development, in return for knowing Florida was receiving its biggest employer, tax payer, developer, visitor draw and world icon?
Yes I would, although I’d probably get them to contribute more to infrastructure (I don’t know any details of the original deal, so maybe they did). I lived in Orlando during the incredible growth after Disney arrived. One summer job in high school it took me 45 minutes to drive home from work less than 5 miles.
fyi, here is a link where you can download a list of all the special districts in Florida, all 1932 of them. Each one has different benefits, including the Villages, DeS' favorite Official List of Special Districts - FloridaJobs.org
