{"id":1451049,"date":"2022-04-22T19:14:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T23:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1451049"},"modified":"2022-04-22T19:14:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T23:14:40","slug":"shell-companies-and-shady-lawyers-why-did-disney-get-to-govern-itself-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shell-companies-and-shady-lawyers-why-did-disney-get-to-govern-itself-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shell Companies And Shady Lawyers\u2019: Why Did Disney Get To Govern Itself In Florida?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fshell-companies-and-shady-lawyers-why-did-disney-get-to-govern-itself-in-florida%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1451049&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/Disney-2.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>The Walt Disney Company \u2014 once a family-friendly entertainment firm that brought together Americans from all walks of life \u2014 is currently making national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Beyond going out of its way to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/report-pixar-reinstates-same-sex-kiss-in-lightyear-film-over-so-called-dont-say-gay-bill-source-shares\"><span>shove LGBTQ+ scenes<\/span><\/a><span> into its programming, Disney is now opposing state laws meant to protect children from radical gender ideology \u2014 most notably, a Texas measure to investigate <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/disney-announces-plans-to-oppose-texas-order-criminalizing-sex-change-surgeries-on-children\"><span>transgender medical procedures on children<\/span><\/a><span> as child abuse and a Florida <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/desantis-signs-parental-notification-bill-shrugs-off-dont-say-gay-uproar\"><span>parental rights bill<\/span><\/a><span>. (Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/videos\/introducing-dw-kids\">plans<\/a> for kids entertainment content)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In response, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/watch-desantis-torches-disney-over-opposition-to-law-banning-sexual-ideology-being-forced-on-young-children\"><span>repeatedly vowed<\/span><\/a><span> that Disney would \u201cnever run this state\u201d as long as he is in charge. Taking more concrete steps, DeSantis recently declared that \u201cDisney is a guest in Florida\u201d and is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/disney-is-a-guest-in-florida-florida-lawmakers-consider-terminating-disneys-district\"><span>supporting legislation<\/span><\/a><span> to end the Reedy Creek Improvement District \u2014 a 39-square-mile special governing and tax district that hosts Disney World.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Why does a giant entertainment conglomerate get to self-govern on its very own slice of land in the Sunshine State \u2014 and who is left better off as that privilege appears to be coming to a close?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Shell Companies and Scheming Lawyers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>If you have ever visited Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, you have been to the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Sitting in central Florida to the southwest of Orlando, the area was feverishly pursued by Walt Disney himself as the home of his company\u2019s second theme park.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Frustrated by the businesses that crowded Disneyland in California, Walt Disney set up multiple shell companies \u2014 with names like Latin-American Development and Management Corp., Tomahawk Properties, and M.T. Lott Co. \u2014 to grab tens of thousands of acres in Florida. According to journalist and author David Koenig, who has spent years covering the rise of Disney, the strategy was meant to mask Disney\u2019s intentions in the region and thereby keep real estate as inexpensive as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere were dozens of landholders, and as soon as someone heard that Disney bought lot one, they knew the price on lots two through 50 would go through the roof,\u201d Koenig explained to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/la-fi-disney-shell-companies-20160408-story.html\"><span>Los Angeles Times<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cIt had to appear as if it were just a coincidence that there were 10 different companies buying land in the same area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Disney took other measures to hide the fact that it was the \u201cmystery\u201d land buyer acquiring uninhabited swampland at a breakneck pace. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/disneyparks.disney.go.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/bob-foster-and-the-founding-of-a-disney-kingdom\/\"><span>blog post from Disney<\/span><\/a><span> acknowledges that legal counsel Bob Foster \u2014 working under the pseudonym \u201cBob Price\u201d \u2014 took steps to obfuscate Disney\u2019s intentions from citizens of Florida.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOn my trips back to California, I would visit my mother in Kansas, which required a stop in St. Louis,\u201d Foster said. \u201cAt least on a couple of occasions, I did not conceal that I was flying to that city. So it was not surprising when McDonnell Aircraft, headquartered in St. Louis, was soon identified, \u2018on reliable authority,\u2019 as being the mystery industry!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When the dust settled, the property that would become Disney World was snapped up at an average cost of $180 per acre \u2014 \u201can incredible feat considering that shortly after the announcement was made, a nearby acre sold for more than $300,000,\u201d Disney boasts. For those keeping score, Disney thus acquired property at 0.06% of its soon-to-be market value by keeping its activities under wraps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At some level, one may laud Walt Disney and his team for their shrewd capitalism. Yet Disney soon turned to a far less impressive form of protecting its holdings \u2014 namely, lobbying the Florida state government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ministry of Mouse<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>For several decades, Disney has been a powerful political influence in Florida. According to data from Open Secrets, the company gave $350,000 to $610,000 to seven firms lobbying in Florida during the 2020 election year, followed by $460,000 to $719,974 to eight firms in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Still, Disney\u2019s greatest lobbying victory came in the years after it acquired the large tracts of land in central Florida.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gov. Claude Kirk (R-FL) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/economy\/disney-reedy-creek-improvement-act\"><span>signed the Reedy Creek Improvement Act<\/span><\/a><span> in 1967 \u2014 the year after Walt Disney passed away \u2014 in response to the company\u2019s lobby. The legislation allowed the state legislature to establish the Reedy Creek Improvement District, allowing Disney to act with the same authority as a county government for its 39-square-mile property. The district encompasses the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, as well as 175 lane miles of roadway, 67 miles of waterway, various power and water plants, hundreds of restaurants and retail properties, and more than 40,000 hotel rooms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Most importantly, Reedy Creek has permission to levy taxes, issue bonds, and write its own construction and wastewater management laws \u2014 avoiding the regulatory headaches with which other companies throughout the state must wrestle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Indeed, Disney\u2019s most recent foray into woke politics <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/consumer\/reedy-creek-disney-world-special-district-history-desantis-rcna22551\"><span>gave Florida officials an excuse<\/span><\/a><span> to adjust what they see as longstanding undue privileges for Disney.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSomeone said Disney has all these special perks,\u201d DeSantis said earlier this month. \u201cShould you retaliate against them for them coming out and demagoguing this bill? I don\u2019t believe you \u2018retaliate,\u2019 but I think what I would say is, as a matter of first principle, I don\u2019t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful, and they\u2019ve been able to wield a lot of power.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile, State Rep. Spencer Roach (R-FL) dubbed Reedy Creek \u201cthe largest tax evasion scam in Florida history, if not U.S. history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey have an advantage,\u201d Roach commented, \u201cand it\u2019s anti-economic liberty. That is my bent here. Really, the fundamental question should be: Why did we do this in the first place? As Floridians, do we believe in free markets or not? If we do, then this is wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>One Clear Winner<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Florida\u2019s House of Representatives and Gov. DeSantis are prepared to revoke Disney\u2019s privileges. What can Disney \u2014 and taxpayers \u2014 expect as the fallout begins?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For one, Disney is anticipated to lose \u201ctens of millions of dollars a year,\u201d a source familiar with the company\u2019s finances told The Wall Street Journal. Indeed, Disney\u2019s stock price continued to plummet after the Florida Senate passed its legislation \u2014 continuing a decline that began amid backlash to Disney\u2019s pushback against the parental rights bill. Nevertheless, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-floridas-senate-passes-bill-to-end-disneys-self-governance\"><span>legislation<\/span><\/a><span> to end Disney\u2019s special district allows the company to re-establish an entity after Reedy Creek\u2019s dissolution, which would occur by June 1, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the meantime, Orange County and Osceola County would likely pick up governance responsibility for Reedy Creek, Florida Association of Special Districts executive director David Ramba told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/florida-senate-passes-bill-to-eliminate-disneys-special-tax-district-11650473902\"><span>The Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a><span>. However, citizens may also pick up the responsibility of servicing Reedy Creek\u2019s $977 million in long-term bond debt, even as Disney begins to redirect its tax payments to local governments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>No matter how the magic stars align, University of Central Florida historian James Clark concluded that there is only one \u201cclear winner\u201d from the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf taxpayers get stuck with the bonds, then the counties will be the big losers from this bill, and Disney loses a lot by losing the control they get from having Reedy Creek,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThe only clear winner if this bill passes is Ron DeSantis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhatever you do,\u201d Walt Disney once said, \u201cdo it well.\u201d It seems that DeSantis has taken that advice to heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Walt Disney Company \u2014 once a family-friendly entertainment firm that brought together Americans from all walks of life \u2014 is currently making national headlines for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1451055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1451049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1451049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1451055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1451049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1451049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1451049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}