One Year After the Dissolution of Reedy Creek, Ron DeSantis Takes a Victory Lap
On the first anniversary of the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking a victory lap.
“One year ago, I signed legislation ending what an independent audit found to be one of the worst examples of cronyism in modern U.S. history: Reedy Creek, a local government controlled by a single company, Disney,” DeSantis said.
Since the dissolution of Reedy Creek, the governor-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) has become the predominant governing district of the land that makes up Disney World.
“While so many claimed ending the cronyism would be bad for Florida. The result has been transparency and accountability, including a reduction of taxes and local businesses being allowed to compete for projects, saving the district millions of dollars,” he continued.
A Tumultuous Year
Despite accusations of political corruption and low employee morale, DeSantis has consistently called the CFTOD a success.
Following the dissolution of Reedy Creek, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis, accusing the governor of violating the company’s First Amendment rights. The dissolution of Reedy Creek, Disney said, was brought about in retaliation for the company publically opposing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
A federal judge recently dismissed Disney’s suit, ruling that they had no standing to sue the governor and that their case against the CFTOD lacked merit. Disney has said they will appeal.
“I predicted then that it wasn’t going anywhere,” DeSantis recently said. “That case has been dismissed by a federal district judge […] We had basically moved on.”
While DeSantis is clearly riding high at this time, his battle with Disney is far from over. Not only will Disney appeal its federal lawsuit, but the two sides are also in a battle in state court over last-minute binding agreements Disney made with Reedy Creek.
The governor’s celebration, then, may be a bit premature.
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