Friday, March 31, 2023

Mickey Strikes Back

 

By John R. Byrne:

Everyone’s talking about the Trump indictment but, since it’s Friday, we’re going with some lighter fare. Disney!

You may have read about Governor DeSantis's takeover of the Reedy Creek board, which governs the district where Walt Disney World operates. But, apparently, on the eve of the takeover, the old board significantly curbed the new board's powers by having the district enter into a Declaration of Restrictive Covenants in favor of Walt Disney Parks. 

As one of the new board members said, “This [document] essentially makes Disney the government. This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.” 

The new board has hired multiple law firms to look into undoing the covenants. 

As a side note, remember the Rule Against Perpetuities? You know, that rule you learned for the bar exam and then promptly forgot about after the test? It makes an appearance in the Declaration! The restrictive covenants are in place "in perpetuity" unless that violates the Rule Against Perpetuities, in which case they will be in place "until twenty one (21) years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England living as of the date of this Declaration." I think that works. 

If you're interested in reading the Declaration, the Orlando Sentinel includes it in their article.

Enjoy the weekend and go Canes!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a republican, and I can’t understand what DeSantis is doing. Does anyone want any of the laws he is passing? Republicans even? This guy is seeming more and more dangerous every day. What a pathetic joke this Disney stunt was by DeSantis regardless of what Disney did. What a pathetic joke these cronies on the new board are.

Anonymous said...

GO FAU!!!

Anonymous said...

Well, at least we all will be able to buy full auto guns with silencers and no licenses in a couple years.

Anonymous said...

Get your popcorn.

Anonymous said...

Imma sad that Mickey and Trump are overshadowing Gwyneth's resounding trial win. SAD!

Rumpole said...

Im still standing so the rule against perpetuities is not in play. Great great great great great great great grandpa Charlie would be proud.

Anonymous said...

The Grand Ole Party is turning into one Crazy Ole Party. It is certainly NOT the same party that formed to combat the expansion of slavery into American territories. But...if you cannot teach true American history...THIS is what you get!

Anonymous said...

I laughed til the tears ran, all through the Miami Herald's lengthy article on Disney's very public but unnoticed-by-DeSantis-sycophants actions between the 2022 law and its implementation in Jan 2023. I did spot the Rule Against Perpetuities piece, which was the maraschino on the whipped cream on top of this brilliant piece of legal gamesmanship by the Disney lawyers.
What did DeSantis think Disney would do? He might have read about when the news broke about Disney's accumulation of the land for Disney World, back in 1970 or so. All was done before a whisper of this huge acquisition (acquired piece by piece) hit the media.
Disney enterprises did not hit the billions by snoozing while the junior associate-type in the governor's office sits around ignoring or making worse the real problems of his own constituency. Property insurance? Making it virtually impossible for insureds who can't afford to hire lawyers to get fair treatment from their insurance companies? Nah: DeSantis is hot after drag shows, hegemony over women (minds as well as bodies), and The David's appearance in an art book or video.

Anonymous said...

My favorite part about the Disney thing is that I have not heard a single republican yell about government take overs of successfully run private management.

I would have thought that Disney's governance of Reedy Creek was the Republican model. If a Democrat would have tried pulling this stunt, Fox News would be yelling from the rooftops about socialism.