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DeSantis vs. Disney
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rfenst Offline
#451 Posted: Sun, Jun 4 2023, 4:30 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
DrMaddVibe wrote:

It now sits with a Trump appointed judge!

whip

Why don't you want a neutral, impartial, judge who follows the law, and who won't rule based upon his/her personal views?

If you believe the new judge's personal views will have any impact on the outcome, you better hope he is not a Trumpster.

This case will settle because even if Desantis wins in court at the local federal trial level, he will still "lose." The case will drag on for 2-7 years (and possibly go all the way up to SCOTUS) because of the constitutional issues, the costs vs. risk of losing for both parties, exorbitant legal fees for the state, and the popular sentiment against what he is trying to do.

Look for a mediated "settlement" down the road where both sides can claim they won some and lost some, and that they are both glad to have resolved most of their differences.

Then Disney will resume it's big, in-state political donations to the Rs...

Kumbaya.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#452 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 7:04 AM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
rfenst wrote:
Why don't you want a neutral, impartial, judge who follows the law, and who won't rule based upon his/her personal views?

If you believe the new judge's personal views will have any impact on the outcome, you better hope he is not a Trumpster.

This case will settle because even if Desantis wins in court at the local federal trial level, he will still "lose." The case will drag on for 2-7 years (and possibly go all the way up to SCOTUS) because of the constitutional issues, the costs vs. risk of losing for both parties, exorbitant legal fees for the state, and the popular sentiment against what he is trying to do.

Look for a mediated "settlement" down the road where both sides can claim they won some and lost some, and that they are both glad to have resolved most of their differences.

Then Disney will resume it's big, in-state political donations to the Rs...

Kumbaya.




Um...I KNOW yoou weren't paying attention. Trump's pick were ALL done in advance. He knew Lefty would swarm and attack like they do anyone not politically lockstep with them with the toadie presstitutes doing their foot work. The picks were, get ready for it Robert...Constitutionalists. Meaning they know and understand the documents.

Jeez, give it a break already. Admit that America was better off with him than the $hitshow YOU voted in.
RayR Offline
#453 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 8:55 AM EST
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,888
In reality, there is no such thing as a neutral, impartial, judge, but isn't it better to have a judge that is biased toward the words as they were originally understood to mean in the Constitution than a judge that believes in a living constitution where the words can be interpreted anytime to mean anything they want from a presentist point of view or based on bad precidents by past courts?
rfenst Offline
#454 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 10:42 AM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
DrMaddVibe wrote:
Um...I KNOW yoou weren't paying attention. Trump's pick were ALL done in advance. He knew Lefty would swarm and attack like they do anyone not politically lockstep with them with the toadie presstitutes doing their foot work. The picks were, get ready for it Robert...Constitutionalists. Meaning they know and understand the documents.

Jeez, give it a break already. Admit that America was better off with him than the $hitshow YOU voted in.

I admit that I didn't liking voting for Biden, but he is better than Trump overall and all his BS 24/7/365. You can carry his baggage. Not me.
rfenst Offline
#455 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 10:53 AM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Florida taxpayers pick up bill for Ron DeSantis’s culture war lawsuits

Governor’s Disney battle and extremist policies are met with costly lawsuits covered by ‘blank check’ from Republican legislature


Guardian
Since Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, took office in 2019 and embarked on his culture wars, lawsuits from various communities whose rights have been violated have been stacking up against the far-right Republican.

As DeSantis fights the lawsuits with what critics have described as a blank check from the state’s supermajority Republican legislature.

In recent years, DeSantis’s ultra-conservative legislative agenda has drawn ire from a slew of marginalized communities as well as major corporations including Disney. The so-called “don’t say gay” bill, abortion bans and prohibition of African American studies are just a few of DeSantis’s many extremist policies that have been met with costly lawsuits in a state where residents are already struggling with costs of living.

“The list of legal challenges precipitating from DeSantis’s unconstitutional laws is endless,” the Democratic state senator Lori Berman said.

“We’ve seen Floridians rightly sue many if not all of the governor’s legislative priorities, including laws that restrict drag shows for kids, prohibit Chinese citizens from owning homes and land in Florida, suppress young and Black and brown voters, ban gender-affirming care and threaten supportive parents with state custody of their children, and of course, all the retaliatory legislation waged against Disney for coming out in support of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.

As a result of the mounting lawsuits against DeSantis, the governor’s legal costs, which the Miami Herald reported last December amounted to at least $16.7m, have been soaring.

In DeSantis’s legal fight against Disney following the corporation’s condemnation of his anti-LGBTQ+ laws, it is going to cost the governor and his handpicked board nearly $1,300 per hour in legal fees as they look into how the corporation discovered a loophole in DeSantis’s plan to acquire governing rights over Disney World, Insider reports.

“Disney is a perfect example. It doesn’t hurt any Floridians. There is nothing. It’s creating a legal issue out of nowhere and now Disney sued so they have to respond and that is going to cost taxpayers’ money. The whole Disney case is just because of DeSantis’s ego and his hurt feelings,” the Democratic state senator Tina Polsky said.

“Taxpayers are paying to foot the bills to pass unconstitutional bills and to keep up with his petty vengeance,” she said, adding: “I don’t think they’re aware at all … They’re too brainwashed at this point that they wouldn’t even care.”

Meanwhile, in another case covered by the Orlando Sentinel, DeSantis’s administration has turned to the elite conservative Washington DC-based law firm Cooper & Kirk to defend the governor against his slew of “anti-woke” laws. The firm’s lawyers charge $725 hourly, according to contracts reviewed by Orlando Sentinel. As of June 2022, the state authorized nearly $2.8m for legal services from just Cooper & Kirk alone, the outlet reports.

With mounting taxpayer-funded legal costs against DeSantis’s legislative agenda, critics ranging from civil rights organizations to the state’s Democratic lawmakers have lambasted DeSantis’s policies as unconstitutional and mere political stunts designed to propel him to the frontlines of the GOP primary.

“DeSantis went to Harvard for his [law degree]. This is someone who should understand the constraints placed on him and the state by the United States constitution and the Florida constitution. He knows those constraints, but he doesn’t care. His goal is to intentionally pass unconstitutional laws and set up legal challenges in order for the conservative supreme court to overturn long-held protections,” Berman said.

Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, echoed similar sentiments, comparing DeSantis to his main competition and current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, both of whom he said are cut “from the same cloth”.

“Ron DeSantis is a Harvard law school graduate. He is a lawyer. Whereas Donald Trump at least could make the argument, ‘I’m just the layperson, I don’t know’ if … something is deemed illegal or unconstitutional … DeSantis does not have that defense,” Jarvis said.

Nevertheless, DeSantis appears unfazed.

“DeSantis knows very well that … what he is doing is unconstitutional and illegal … Lawyers by training are very cautious so this is quite remarkable to have a lawyer-politician who not only knows better, but does not care,” said Jarvis.

To DeSantis, it does not matter whether he wins or loses the legal battles as he knows he “ultimately controls the Florida supreme court”, according to Jarvis.

“He is playing a ‘heads, I win, tails, you lose’ game. If he gets one of these crazy policies passed and they’re challenged and the court upholds him … he can say to the press and to the public, ‘I was right and the proof is in the pudding because the courts agreed with me,’” he explained.

“But even better for DeSantis when they rule against him … DeSantis is able to stand up and say, ‘These crazy judges want our children to watch drag shows, they want our children to be taught to be gay, they want Disney to be this terrible company. That’s why you need a strong governor and why you will benefit from having me as president because I will make sure to get rid of these judges and replace them with judges that have traditional American morals,’” Jarvis added.

As DeSantis continues to fight his costly legal battles, the state’s supermajority Republican legislature appears to encourage him wholly.

“We’re in a litigious society,” the state senate president, Kathleen Passidomo, told the Tallahassee Democrat while the senate budget chair, Doug Broxson, told the outlet: “We want the governor to be in a comfortable position to speak his mind.”

With Republicans rushing to DeSantis’s defense, perhaps the most glaring example of the legislature’s endorsement of his legal wars is the $16m incorporated into the state’s $117bn budget to be used exclusively for his litigation expenses.

Speaking to the Guardian, the state’s Democratic house leader, Fentrice Driskell, called the budget a “carte blanche” from Republicans and the result of zero accountability.

“The legislature is supposed to be a check on executive power. By giving him a carte blanche to go and fight these wars in court, it’s basically just saying that there are no checks and balances when it comes to the state government in Florida,” said Driskell.

“It’s a waste … They are just allowing this single person to impose his will on the state of Florida and they’re willing to waste taxpayer dollars to do it,” she said, adding: “Most Floridians can’t afford their rent and property insurance rates are through the roof. We could have redirected that money towards affordable housing.”

Driskell went on to describe Medicaid iBudget Florida, a waiver that provides disabled Floridians with access to certain services and which currently has a waitlist of more than 22,000 residents.
“It’s very difficult for them to get off that waitlist because the Republicans underfund Medicaid. We could put that money towards funding the waitlist and getting people off of it. I think there’s only $2m that was put in the budget for that this year. If we added the $16m that was added for these culture wars, my goodness, that’s $18m. Presumably we could help get nine times more people off of the waitlist,” said Driskell.

As DeSantis remains embroiled in his legal woes at the expense of Florida taxpayers, there is perhaps a single group of people that have benefited the most out of all the legal drama, Jarvis told the Guardian.

“The lawyers who got that $16.7m, that’s money from heaven. That’s money that fell into their laps … Anytime there’s a loser, and the loser here is the Florida taxpayer, there is a winner. The winners here are the lawyers who are collecting those enormous fees. The more that plaintiffs file lawsuits and the more they fight these crazy policies, you know that’s just money in the bank for these lawyers,” Jarvis said.

“DeSantis has been God’s gift to lawyers,” he added.
HockeyDad Offline
#456 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 11:44 AM EST
Joined: 09-20-2000
Posts: 46,134
“The so-called “don’t say gay” bill, abortion bans and prohibition of African American studies are just a few of DeSantis’s many extremist policies that have been met with costly lawsuits in a state where residents are already struggling with costs of living.“


That sentence nullifies the rest of the article.
RayR Offline
#457 Posted: Mon, Jun 5 2023, 12:25 PM EST
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,888
Agreed, I think the taxpayers are the victims of predatory lawyers.and their never ending frivolously expensive litigation.
Brewha Offline
#458 Posted: Thu, Jun 8 2023, 2:54 PM EST
Joined: 01-25-2010
Posts: 12,175
HockeyDad wrote:
“The so-called “don’t say gay” bill, abortion bans and prohibition of African American studies are just a few of DeSantis’s many extremist policies that have been met with costly lawsuits in a state where residents are already struggling with costs of living.“



But he as to do SOMETHNG to get the knuckle draggers to love him...
rfenst Offline
#459 Posted: Sat, Jun 10 2023, 2:59 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
HockeyDad wrote:
“The so-called “don’t say gay” bill, abortion bans and prohibition of African American studies are just a few of DeSantis’s many extremist policies that have been met with costly lawsuits in a state where residents are already struggling with costs of living.“


That sentence nullifies the rest of the article.

CHERRY PICK?
If you read the whole article, please tell me why...
Speyside2 Offline
#460 Posted: Sat, Jun 10 2023, 9:07 PM EST
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,387
DeSantis will be a footnote of the 2024 election. The mouse Trumped him.
rfenst Offline
#461 Posted: Sun, Jun 11 2023, 2:13 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Black engineers, Game of Thrones fans cancel Orlando events over political concerns

Several groups are citing political concerns as the reason why they are canceling Orlando events, including some at the Orange County Convention Center seen here.


Orlando Sentinel
Black engineers and “Game of Thrones” fans are the latest groups canceling Orlando events and attributing their decisions to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s political climate.

The National Society of Black Engineers’ 50th conference would have brought up to 15,000 visitors to the Orange County Convention Center in 2024 and generated millions of dollars in economic impact, the group’s CEO Janeen Uzzell said Friday.

Instead, it’ll be held in a different city that will be announced next week, she said.

The Con of Thrones, which typically draws 3,000 to 4,000 fans of the “Game of Thrones” books and television shows, also announced this week it was pulling the plug on a gathering planned for this Aug. 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.

Organizers cited “increasingly anti-humanitarian legislation” in the state.

“It’s becoming an inhospitable place to be part of any marginalized group,” said Melissa Anelli, CEO of Mischief Management, the company putting on the event. “They have laws that say you can’t even talk about being gay in school. That is absurd.”

Three other groups have taken their business elsewhere in recent months.

AnitaB.org, an organization of female and nonbinary tech workers, announced it would no longer hold events in Orlando after this year’s conference, which will be at the convention center in September.

The American Education Research Association, which typically draws up to 15,000 people to its conference, decided to hold its 2025 annual meeting in Denver instead of Orlando, said Tony Pals, a spokesman.

The group has a policy of not holding events in states that have enacted “anti-trans laws,” he said in an email.

Another group, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, also cited political concerns when it canceled its 2027 surgical conference and expo, according to the Orange County Convention Center. Organizers declined to comment on their decision-making process for events.

Organizers with the National Society of Black Engineers said they were troubled by DeSantis’ efforts to target diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and how that would affect student members of the group, Uzzell said.

“This is a celebration,” she said. “This is a moment in time for NSBE. We didn’t want any of the political and social issues to mask our success.”

The event had been planned for Feb. 28–March 3 at the convention center.

Other groups canceling their events have cited laws that banned most abortions after six weeks, allowed Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit, cracked down on illegal immigration and targeted transgender and LGBTQ+ issues.

Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for DeSantis, did not respond to a request for comment about the cancellations.

Several groups have issued travel warnings for Florida, including the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group.

In the past, DeSantis has criticized travel advisories from advocacy groups as a political “stunt” and pointed to strong tourism numbers. More than 74 million visitors came to the Orlando area in 2022, up 25% from the previous year and just shy of pre-pandemic levels, tourism officials said in May.

The Con of Thrones’ decision to nix its Orlando event drew support from some on social media, but others were skeptical of the explanation.

Terry George-Waterfield, a regular attendee from North Carolina, said he thinks slow ticket sales, poor planning and Florida’s actual sweltering summertime climate had more to do with the event being canceled. A larger convention, Dragon Con, was scheduled for the following week in Atlanta.

“I find it really hard to believe that all of a sudden a month-and-a-half from the event the political climate is so bad they have to cancel the event,” he said. “It is the summer in Orlando. People didn’t feel they could go in cosplay and dress up.”

The abrupt cancellation caused problems for people who had booked tickets for air travel and theme parks, he said.

Anelli acknowledged slower ticket sales, but she blamed Florida’s political climate, which she said made it harder to get vendors, actors and others to participate. People who purchased tickets will receive refunds, she said.

“Our attendees [were] saying, ‘Like I just can’t go to this state anymore.’ They weren’t saying that in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. They are only saying that now. … What changed are these laws. What changed are the actual, open hostility we are now facing for a large portion of our community.”

Central Florida tourism officials say they are planning to launch a campaign to promote Orlando as a place that is open to everyone.

Officials are also considering restarting a $600 million proposal to expand the convention center that was halted during the pandemic.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#462 Posted: Tue, Jul 18 2023, 9:32 AM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
Florida Governor did this....NOT~


Nolte: Disney+ Expected to Lose $800 Million This Quarter



The floundering Walt Disney Company’s Disney+ streaming service is expected to record a $800 million third-quarter loss.

That’s nearly a billion dollars lost in a single quarter.

I tell ya, Disney’s slow-motion collapse is more entertaining than anything these child predators have created in years.

Apparently, grooming little kids doesn’t pay.

Who knew?

In better news, Disney stock took a dive after it was announced disgraced CEO Bob Iger extended his contract to 2026.

The smart money knows Groomer Bob is not good for business.

Wanna good laugh? The Disney sycophants in the corporate media have been portraying these massive losses as a good thing.

The far-left New York Times back in May:

To understand the forces that have been roiling the biggest media companies, look no further than Disney’s earnings. Streaming economics are improving — considerably so. But not fast enough to offset declines in traditional television, which is in free fall.

Disney said on Wednesday that losses in its streaming business for the most recent quarter totaled $659 million, an improvement from a year earlier (and a vast improvement from the October-to-December period, when losses totaled $1.1 billion). Streaming revenue climbed 12 percent, reflecting a sharp increase in revenue per paid Disney+ subscriber, a metric investors watch closely.

Oh, yeah, what a relief… Losses were only down $659 million. Well, now that those losses appear to have spiked back up to $800 million, we can all look forward to the rewrite. Right? Right?

Here’s Reuters in May:

Walt Disney Co … reduced streaming losses by $400 million from the prior quarter but also shed subscribers, the company reported on Wednesday as quarterly earnings landed in line with Wall Street expectations.

Investors Business Daily in May:

Still, losses for the company’s streaming business improved to $659 million from a loss of $887 million last year. FactSet projected Disney’s streaming operations to record an $845 million loss.

Boy, Democrats got it good. Disney+ loses more than a half-billion dollars over three months, and the fake media is all: Good news!

Well, now the losses are back up to $800 million. Should be interesting to see how these bootlickers spin that for Groomer Bob.

The media talking around the brand damage the Disney Grooming Syndicate has brought on itself is pathetic. Because Disney cannot control its dual obsessions involving identity politics and its criminal desire to normalize sex with kids, everything Disney is dying… The company has probably lost somewhere around a billion dollars on its last nine feature films. Disney+ is a stagnant money pit of sexual perversities. Theme park attendance is down. The price of Disney’s stock has been cut in half in just a few years.

But this is what happens when you prey on children rather than protect them.

This is what happens when your failed Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, woke rape our heroes like Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and Indiana Jones into emasculated, mewling little gerbils reporting to The GirlBoss.

This is what happens when you ask us to feel an emotional attachment to a character based on something as shallow and meaningless as their gender, skin color, or how they conduct their sex life.

This is what happens when you sexualize everything, especially children’s content with deviant sexual behavior and the destructive horrors of transsexualism.

Disney is pure evil and deserves every terrible thing in the world.

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/07/17/nolte-disney-expected-to-lose-800m-this-quarter/

Meanwhile Gov DeSantis makes Disney create more bad films.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/17/disneys-live-action-snow-white-takes-wokeness-to-absurd-new-low/
RayR Offline
#463 Posted: Tue, Jul 18 2023, 10:00 AM EST
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,888
The National Society of Black Engineers’, Mischief Management, AnitaB.org, The American Education Research Association, and the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses.
So much WOKE OUTRAGE CANCEL CULTURE.
Speyside2 Offline
#464 Posted: Thu, Jul 20 2023, 7:28 PM EST
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,387
Robert, I do not see your state recovering from the abomination that your governor and state government are. Who the F with a brain would want their kids to be taught that slavery was ok and gave the slaves skills? This is a page out of the Nazi playbook. That is how bad this is.
RayR Offline
#465 Posted: Thu, Jul 20 2023, 7:58 PM EST
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,888
Speyside2 wrote:
Robert, I do not see your state recovering from the abomination that your governor and state government are. Who the F with a brain would want their kids to be taught that slavery was ok and gave the slaves skills? This is a page out of the Nazi playbook. That is how bad this is.


Spey, it's true...you've lost your mind.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#466 Posted: Mon, Aug 28 2023, 6:42 AM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
Did I miss the part where Gov. DeSantis killed Steven Spielberg and all the studio heads to pave way for the Disney trash they're choosing to make?


Disney Stock Plunges To 9 Year Lows After Multiple Woke Box Office Failures



Maybe attacking the state of Florida and supporting transgender indoctrination in schools was not the best money-making business model?

Disney has been injecting far-left propaganda into its film productions and streaming productions for a number of years, but it was not until their very public attempt to undermine Florida's Parental Rights In Education Bill that larger audiences started applying more scrutiny to the company and withholding their dollars. In the past, consumers used to let subversive progressive preaching slide, but with the rapid decline in story quality as well as the open hostility shown by companies like Disney towards conservatives, the tide is turning.

Woke leftist messaging would include - Mary Sue stories designed to bolster false feminist premises while denigrating men. Critical Race Theory messaging that attempts to exaggerate and exploit negative race relations. The race swapping of established white characters for the sake of virtue signaling. The erasure of positive romantic stories featuring straight protagonists; showing only LGBT relationships in a positive light. LGBT propaganda aimed at young children. The promotion of trans ideology, often based on anti-science. Sexualized messaging aimed at children. Regularly depicting pro-American and pro-free market characters as the villains. The list goes on...

When it comes to the "culture war" there are a few important questions that have been begging to be answered for the past several years:

1) Is there really a market for woke propaganda in popular media?

2) If so, how much of the population is actually going to spend money to consume that propaganda?

3) If there is no market and the business model is a money losing prospect, then why are so many major corporations abandoning traditional American audiences and pumping out such garbage anyway?

For a long time the public has been told that woke entertainment is the wave of the future and that the majority of Americans want to see such stories more often. They have also been told that anyone who criticizes the social shift in media to the far-left is "probably a bigot or a fascist" and that they should be treated as monsters. Yet, crashing audience numbers and plummeting profits for Hollywood have indicated the opposite (theater audiences have dropped by 50% in the past four years). It is a condition they have sought to hide, but the consequences of bad business practices cannot be denied forever.

Consumer boycotts of woke brands have erupted in 2023, leading to the implosion of companies like Bud Light and the continued sales rot of retailers like Target. Leftists have joked that the public would have to stop shopping almost everywhere just to boycott all the actively woke corporations - Basically admitting that the corporate world they claim to hate is on their side. However, there's always small businesses, and the boycotts don't have to target every single woke perpetrator, they only need to make examples out of a handful to send a message.

What's the message? Leftists are a minority and they are broke bums. There is no market for what they are selling.

Disney has learned this lesson the hard way with a string of major box office failures leading to at least $1 billion in losses this year along with their stock crashing to 9-year lows this week. Disney park attendance is also thinning dramatically with wait times on rides down from 47 minutes to 27 minutes on peak days. The company is now considering selling off assets to stay afloat, with Amazon in talks to purchase a stake in ESPN streaming.

One could also blame the growing cancer of "stakeholder capitalism," a notion developed by the World Economic Forum which argues that corporations must engage in social engineering rather than being concerned with making money. Without ample ESG funding to backstop the losses these companies have to fund their agitprop from their own coffers, and now we are seeing the inevitable results.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/disney-stock-plunges-9-year-lows-after-mutliple-woke-box-office-failures

If Epstein ran a company like Disney is operating he still wouldn't kill himself.
rfenst Offline
#467 Posted: Wed, Nov 1 2023, 10:15 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Disney district cancels no-bid 911 contract


Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Disney oversight district revealed Tuesday it had canceled a contract with a politically connected telecommunications entrepreneur’s company as scrutiny mounted over its decision not to open the project to competitive bids.

Earlier this month, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District authorized a $242,500 no-bid contract with Figgers Communication to help update its 911 network.

That company’s founder, Freddie Figgers, briefly served with Disney district administrator Glen Gilzean on the Florida Commission on Ethics. Both were appointed to the ethics board by DeSantis.District officials said they would open the contract to bids at Figgers’ request and defended their rationale for wanting to expedite the project. WFTV first reported on the no-bid deal, putting a spotlight on the district’s decision to waive competitive bidding.

“They [Figgers Communication] do not wish to continue under the current atmosphere and wish to participate in a bidding process instead,” Matthew Oberly, the district’s director of external affairs, said Tuesday. “Which is unfortunate as now we will have to start over.”

In a letter to the district on Monday, Figgers requested an open bidding process to “err on the side of caution” and ensure the “best value” for taxpayers.

“We welcome the opportunity for an open bidding process and are confident that it will reveal that our proposal to implement the 911 wireless and VOIP emergency services was very reasonable, with no intention of taking advantage of the District,” Figgers wrote.

District officials say the contract is critical to fixing an issue with 911 calls going unanswered, and Figgers Communication was able to meet the compressed 120-day timeline.

Oberly defended the contract in an interview before the district’s decision to cancel the deal.

“It follows all of the procurement guidelines,” he said. “It was a critical urgent need.”

The contract met three bidding exceptions in the district’s purchasing policy for urgent operational needs, wireless networks, and proprietary software, he said.

But Ben Wilcox, research director at Integrity Florida, said the deal still raised questions about whether favoritism played a role in the selection process. Bidding requirements should only be waived if a compelling reason exists, he said.

“It’s always better to have a bidding process,” Wilcox said. “I don’t know if this is the only company that could provide these services. You can’t find that out unless you put it out there for a competitive bidding process.”

When the state took over the district, DeSantis vowed to end “no-bid procurements” in the Disney district. A DeSantis spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the 911 no-bid deal.

The contract was made final on Oct. 12. It is part of a $1 million project to enable wireless and voice-over-internet-protocol calls to be routed directly to the district’s 911 communications center.

Figgers Communication was hired to assist with “consulting, negotiating and requesting approval from state and federal regulators on behalf of the district,” according to the contract. The scope of work also included designing an “efficient call flow plan” that will enhance the district’s 911 network and eliminate routing through Orange County.

A two-person consulting team was to be paid $485 an hour for an expected 500 hours of work with a total price tag of $242,500, according to the contract.

District officials wanted to move quickly because of a WFTV report in August that revealed Orange County’s 911 center was failing to pick up calls in time and missing state benchmarks, Oberly said.

Internal documents obtained by WFTV showed dispatchers picked up 80.5% of calls within 10 seconds in June, short of the 90% required by state guidelines.

The 911 center is operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which also has a contract to provide law enforcement services for Disney properties. The district’s Reedy Creek Fire Department handles fire protection and emergency medical services.

Gilzean was not involved in awarding the contract to Figgers Communication, and the purchasing department took the lead, Oberly said.

But an Aug. 4 internal email obtained by the Orlando Sentinel shows that Paula Hoisington, Gilzean’s chief of staff, introduced Figgers to Tiffany Kimball, the district’s purchasing officer

“Tiffany please meet Freddie Figgers, Chief Executive Officer, Figgers Communication Inc. Tiffany, per our conversation please reach out to Freddy to discuss information needed for contracting,” Hosington wrote in the email.

Asked by the Orlando Sentinel for a list of 911-related projects completed by Figgers Communication in the past, the district and company officials did not provide one. Company officials say they are well-qualified to handle the job.

“Our experience includes managing wireless networks and developing software and other related technologies. …This initiative falls squarely within the scope of telecommunications network and software technologies,” said Michael Rahman, chief intellectual property officer for Figgers Communication. “Given our experience in these areas, we are well-equipped to contribute our expertise to ensure the success of this project.

Figgers, 34, has made national headlines for his improbable rise in the tech and telecommunications world. He was abandoned at birth next to a dumpster and grew up in Quincy, a small town near Tallahassee, according to a profile by the BBC.

At 21, Figgers was the youngest person to acquire a license from the Federal Communications Commission, NBC News reported. His company, Figgers Communication, was the country’s only Black-owned telecommunications company in America as of 2020, according to the report.

DeSantis appointed Figgers to serve on the Florida Commission on Ethics on July 27. Less than a month later on Aug. 22, Gilzean resigned as chairman of that panel.

Gilzean stepped aside after it was revealed that he was in violation of a state law that prohibits ethics commissioners from holding public employment.

DeSantis’ Disney district hired Gilzean in May to serve in the $400,000-a-year administrator post.




Sweetheart-deal aborted after being discovered...
rfenst Offline
#468 Posted: Wed, Nov 1 2023, 10:20 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Political insiders get fat paychecks, big contracts from DeSantis’ Disney district


Orlando Sentinel
Some winners have emerged in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing battle with Disney: political insiders who scored lucrative six-figure jobs and contracts as the culture war fight unfolded.

DeSantis vowed to bring a new era of accountability, but more than eight months into a state takeover, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s new administration is facing mounting scrutiny and scathing employee exit surveys.

“You do see a pattern here that people who are politically connected are getting work,” said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor and author of the book “Married to the Mouse” on Disney World’s origins. “Maybe that shouldn’t be shocking. Is that insiderism? I guess you could call it that.”

Glen Gilzean, a close DeSantis ally, landed a $400,000-a-year job leading the district, which provides government services to Disney World. His candidacy was helped by Michael Sasso, a DeSantis-appointed board member who also was the best man in Gilzean’s wedding over the summer.

The DeSantis-appointed board chose Gilzean over several other candidates, including William Sturgeon, a former city manager of St. Cloud, a city with a population of more than 60,000.

“It was political,” Sturgeon said. “The place is falling apart. My professional opinion is they have too many state-orientated people in there, and state and municipal government are two different things.”

Sturgeon said he likes Gilzean, but the district needs a leader with a background in local government. Before landing the job at the district, Gilzean served as CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights and advocacy organization.

Another applicant, Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight, said he had a brief conversation with the tourism oversight district’s board chair before submitting his resume, but he never heard back.

As administrator, Gilzean selected Paula Hoisington, chairwoman of the Central Florida Urban League’s board, to serve as his chief of staff at the tourism oversight district. Public records show she started at an annual salary of $195,000 and was recently promoted to deputy district administrator, getting a $55,000-a-year raise.

Ronald Haag, a legislative aide to former state GOP Rep. Fred Hawkins, was brought in to serve as Gilzean’s executive assistant.

Hawkins, R-St. Cloud, sponsored the legislation overhauling Disney’s special district. He’s since left the Legislature, landing a job to lead South Florida State College despite having no experience in higher education.

The district also hired Brandy Brown, who worked as director of strategic initiatives in DeSantis’ office. Public records show, though, that she only worked briefly as the tourism oversight district’s director of external affairs before leaving. The district did not respond to questions about her departure.

The governor’s office defended the new administration and dismissed the characterization that political favoritism has permeated the district, which since 1967 was effectively controlled by Disney.

DeSantis has said the arrangement allowed Disney to enjoy a “special privilege” that no other theme park operator enjoyed in Florida.

The governor pushed to seize state control of what had been called the Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney criticized what critics call the “don’t say gay” law that bans discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

“CFTOD [Central Florida Tourism Oversight District] appointing those they believe are qualified for certain positions isn’t cronyism,” Jeremy Redfern, a DeSantis spokesman, said in an email. “Cronyism is a local government that served as a Corporate Kingdom for over 50 years. The ‘criticism’ from the cronies indicates that the District is doing the right thing.”

No-bid contract under fire
The district’s purchasing decisions have also raised questions.

Most recently, the district backpedaled on a $242,500 no-bid contract awarded to a DeSantis’ appointee to help upgrade the 911 network. That work went to Freddie Figgers, who served alongside Gilzean on the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Facing scrutiny after media reports, the district canceled that contract at Figgers’ request. District officials, though, say the deal met exceptions for competitive bidding outlined in their purchasing policy.

The district also agreed to pay conservative George Mason University law professor Donald J. Kochan $110,000 to help produce a report and make recommendations to the Florida Legislature.

The district’s purchasing rules include competitive bidding exceptions for consultants and experts hired to prepare reports for the legislature.

Conservative all-star legal team
Two politically connected law firms stand to make millions in legal fees from the district as part of the state’s court battle with Disney. One is a boutique Washington, D.C., firm favored by DeSantis in his culture war legal battles, and another is an upstart firm launched by a retired Supreme Court justice.

The DeSantis-aligned board hired Washington-based Cooper & Kirk, agreeing to pay its lawyers $795 an hour. One of the partners in that law firm is Adam Laxalt, a longtime friend of DeSantis who was hired to lead the Never Back Down super PAC supporting the governor’s presidential campaign.

Lawson Huck Gonzalez, which was founded by three legal heavyweights earlier this year, bills $495 an hour. The firm’s founders include Alan Lawson, a retired Florida Supreme Court justice; Paul Huck Jr., once called the “godfather of the Federalist Society in Miami”; and Jason Gonzalez, who’s advised DeSantis on judicial picks.

Two of the district’s board members — Chairman Martin Garcia and Charbel Barakat — listed Jason Gonzalez as a reference on their Senate confirmation documents.

The district is budgeting $4.5 million for legal expenses in its court battle with Disney on top of the $2 million that has already been spent. Much of that bill will be footed by Disney and its affiliates, which pay about 86% of the district’s property taxes.

Disney is suing DeSantis and state officials in federal court, alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” The tourism oversight district sued Disney in state court, seeking to get development agreements limiting its authority voided.

The district did not solicit proposals for outside legal help, but it wasn’t required to do so under Florida law, said Matthew Oberly, a district spokesman. The board approved the legal contracts in March, shortly after DeSantis replaced five Disney-friendly members with his allies.

“Under Florida state law, legal services are not required to be competitively bid due to the public interest,” Oberly said. “There is no requirement for the district to get the cheapest lawyer, nor is such a good practice.”

Sagging morale, many departures
The district has experienced a wave of retirements and resignations under the new administration with more than 40 out of the district’s 370 employees leaving. That equates to a loss of about 10% of the district’s workforce.

Exit interviews, first obtained by the investigative website Seeking Rents, show several departing employees voiced concerns that cronyism was trumping good government.

One person who worked four years in the administration said she was upset about the district bringing in “friends” to take over positions, which she said was “not only disheartening but unethical.”

“The legacy of this special district is being destroyed by those who have been
placed in power here,” she said in an exit interview. “The BOS [Board of Supervisors] and the new district administrator could care less about the work that needs to be done for the taxpayers. They claim transparency and bridge building, I see non-transparency and bridge burning.”

Another departing finance employee with three years of experience said the “workplace culture has been destroyed’ by the new administration.

“You now see fake smiles and I am sure that a lot of employees are somewhat
scared to say what they actually feel because of retaliation,” she said. “Glen and the board say they care about the employees but that is not true.”

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she worries the state takeover has created a toxic environment that could undermine a district that is vital for the region’s tourism economy.

The district handles fire protection, environmental services, utilities and other important services for Disney World.

“I am concerned about the workers there,” Eskamani said. “Based on the exit surveys, it seems like a really difficult place to work. The well-being of my constituents who work at the special district is of value to me.”

Oberly, the district spokesman, disputed the notion that employee morale is down.

“New administrations bring some changes, and the district is excited for our employees to continue the excellence we are known for,” he said. “We are appreciative of every person who invests time and talent into keeping this place excellent.”
rfenst Offline
#469 Posted: Sat, Nov 18 2023, 11:51 AM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Judge will hear arguments in Disney-DeSantis lawsuit Dec. 12


News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge will hear arguments Dec. 12 on requests by Gov. Ron DeSantis and a revamped Central Florida special district to dismiss a high-profile lawsuit filed by Disney.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor will hold a hearing in Tallahassee in the case, which centers on allegations that the state unconstitutionally retaliated against Disney because of the company’s opposition to the controversial education law that critics call “don’t say gay.”

Attorneys for DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District filed motions in September to dismiss the case. They dispute that a decision by DeSantis and lawmakers to replace the former Reedy Creek Improvement District with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District was retaliation that violated Disney’s First Amendment rights.

The decades-old Reedy Creek district was closely aligned with Disney, while DeSantis now has the power to appoint the new district’s board. Disney filed the lawsuit in April and filed a revised version in September.

DeSantis and Disney began clashing in 2022 after company officials opposed a new law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
DaveSoCal Offline
#470 Posted: Sat, Nov 18 2023, 7:59 PM EST
Joined: 09-14-2014
Posts: 11


Keep in mind......Florida was just a swamp and made the deal or I should say BEGGED for Disney to come to Florida so many years back........Without Disney the other parks would have never gone to Florida....and now after Disney made a state where people want to visit........you want cry that it's not fare what a prick Little man D is. Talk about killing and eating the Golden goose.

That is the truth and fact......Brick wall






MACS Offline
#471 Posted: Sat, Nov 18 2023, 8:46 PM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,779
Stay in SoCal, Dave... live in your socialist utopia and pay $6 a gallon for gas, ridiculous taxes, housing prices, registration prices and dodge homeless feces while you enjoy sitting in traffic.

Ain't nobody in Florida gives one stinking pile of homeless feces what you think.

THOSE are the facts.
rfenst Offline
#472 Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2023, 12:25 AM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
DaveSoCal wrote:
Keep in mind......Florida was just a swamp and made the deal or I should say BEGGED for Disney to come to Florida so many years back........Without Disney the other parks would have never gone to Florida....and now after Disney made a state where people want to visit........you want cry that it's not fare what a prick Little man D is. Talk about killing and eating the Golden goose.

That is the truth and fact......](*,



New study details Disney's $40 billion economic impact in Florida.


WESH.com/Orlando, Fla.
Oxford Economics has published a new study that shows Walt Disney World Resort had a $40.3 billion economic impact in Florida in 2022.

The study, released during the ongoing legal battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis, reveals Disney’s contributions to jobs, the economy, and businesses.

It says Disney played a role in supporting more than 263,000 jobs, generated about $6.6 billion in taxes, and contracted with about 2,500 small businesses.

It adds Disney employed about 98,000 Florida residents, directly supporting 12 percent or 1 in 8 jobs in Central Florida.

A statement from Walt Disney World Resorts president, Jeff Vahle, says:

“The numbers speak for themselves on why Disney is so important to fueling jobs, the economy and tourism throughout our region, and the future investments we’re looking to make will continue to provide even more opportunities for Floridians," Vahle said in a statement.

The study adds, if it weren’t for Disney, Florida would go from being the 21st state with the highest unemployment rate, to the 49th highest in the country.
.
We reached out to the governor’s office for comment, but haven’t yet heard back.
RayR Offline
#473 Posted: Mon, Nov 20 2023, 11:01 AM EST
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,888
Disney World just can't help itself sneaking in new polcies pushing the woke agenda. I'm sure it will come as a great relief to visitors and other employees they will finally be able to address janitors and maintenance personnel by their preferred pronouns.

Disney World launches pronoun pins for employees to self-declare their sexual identity

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor

Quote:
Disney World is beginning to allow employees to add their self-declared pronouns to their official name pins, with the idea first being introduced for custodial staff at EPCOT theme park.

The Daily Caller first published a report about the pronoun pins on Monday, citing as sources multiple employees who spoke with the publication on the condition of anonymity.

The pronoun pin initiative is presently voluntary and limited to the custodial department, according to the Caller, though it is possible that it will be expanded to include other staff later.

“Hi everyone, we are excited to introduce pronoun name tags in our area!” stated a form for the pins, as quoted by the Caller. “Pronoun name tags help us understand each other more and bring a positive impact within our community!”

The Christian Post reached out to Disney regarding the Daily Caller story, and this article will be updated if a response is received.

In recent years, Disney has weathered allegations that the family entertainment company has become increasingly “woke” regarding both the content of its television and movie offerings, as well as how it handles diversity and inclusiveness behind the scenes.

For example, last year, the company spoke out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which, among other things, prohibits public school teachers from discussing LGBT issues with elementary school students.

In response to Disney’s activism, Florida lawmakers passed a bill dissolving the theme park's special rights and privileges it had as a special administrative tax zone, which included exemptions from assorted local regulations.

For his part, Disney CEO Bob Iger said at a town hall held in November of last year that he "regretted" the decision to advocate against the legislation, saying, “I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle.”

Last year, Disney released a "Pride Collection" clothing line for children, including sweaters, T-shirts, baby clothes and other items with the LGBT movement rainbow flag on them.

"The Disney Pride Collection was created by LGBTQIA+ employees and allies at The Walt Disney Company and is a reflection of their incredible contributions and place at the heart of the company," the corporation stated at the time. "We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ community everywhere."

Organizations like the watchdog group the Parents Television and Media Council have also accused Disney of sexualizing children in their entertainment content.

“Going back decades, programs on the Disney Channel that were targeted to preteens emphasized romantic relationships, even though the target audience was [children aged] 8, 9, 10 [and] 11,” said PTC Vice President Melissa Henson in an earlier interview with The Christian Post.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/disney-world-launches-pronoun-pins-for-employees-sexual-identity.html
MidnightToker( • )( • ) Offline
#474 Posted: Mon, Nov 20 2023, 11:06 AM EST
Joined: 10-20-2023
Posts: 822
Actually a good thing. Now you can easily see who to stay away from.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#475 Posted: Mon, Dec 4 2023, 4:15 PM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
Bombshell Audit Reveals How Disney Bribed And Scammed Its Way Into An Unaccountable Florida Empire



Little did Disney know it was no match for DeSantis — or that its belligerent gay agenda would be the beginning of its end.

Fifty-five years after Florida passed a law at Disney’s request establishing the land around the Walt Disney World Resort as the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), which gave it all the responsibilities and power of a county government, the entertainment empire made a fatal mistake: It chose the sexualization of children as the hill to die on.

Specifically, in response to HB 1557 — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education law, which critics dishonestly dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” because it prohibited activist teachers from bringing LGBT politics and transgender indoctrination into kindergarten through third-grade classrooms — Disney threw its weight around. In keeping with its executives’ commitment to injecting a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” into every aspect of its brand, Disney, a “county” unto itself through the RCID, made striking down HB 1557 its “goal.”

Little did the gargantuan mouse know it was no match for DeSantis.

In April 2022, a little over six months before the Florida governor would win reelection in a 20-point landslide, he signed into law a bill repealing Disney’s sweetheart Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID). It subsequently dissolved in June 2023.

DeSantis replaced the RCID with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) — and that’s where things get interesting. The CFTOD took on what looks to be the first exhaustive and independent audit in the five-decade-plus history of the district, with assistance from renowned finance, government, accounting, and city planning experts. The new district published its bombshell findings in an 80-page report on Monday, which can be summed up in a single line: The Reedy Creek Improvement District was “the most egregious exhibition of corporate cronyism in modern American history.”

Reedy Creek Scam

First off, the investigators’ report indicates, the entire premise of the RCID was a scam. Disney originally sold the idea of this special district to Florida with the idea of “EPCOT,” or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT was supposed to boast not only attractions but also business and residential zones — but that never came to pass. Instead, it built its shiny theme park but never put up crucial infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, or housing for employees, meaning surrounding communities incurred the burden of providing these essentials to the company’s workers. As the CFTOD auditors noted in their report: “The RCID was a mousetrap. Disney dangled savory cheese in front of the Florida Legislature and the people of Orlando, but quickly abandoned its city-building pretense.”

Self-regulating Reedy Creek had virtually no oversight, the report shows — just Disney deciding what would serve its interests best, no matter the needs of the many taxpayers located inside the district. In fact, Disney’s authority became so out of control that the company “attained the power to, among other exceptional privileges, create and direct not just its own fire and police departments, but also, if it chose, construct a nuclear power plant,” according to the report.

Insisting that Reedy Creek’s autonomous authority was crucial to Central Florida’s growth, Disney was engaging in cronyism of the highest degree, which, according to the audit, included swaying local supervisors by paying board members’ property taxes and keeping district employees on Disney’s payroll.

Furthermore, though residents of Osceola and Orange Counties, where Reedy Creek was located, were led to believe the “rising tide” of the special district would lift all entrepreneurial boats in Central Florida, they were beached instead. Residents funded the district’s functions but got none of the participation or reciprocity they were owed. The audit revealed how competition was suppressed, if not destroyed outright, as the Disney hydra snaked its way through and dominated each of the district’s enterprises — from dozens of hotels to a handful of golf courses to shops and restaurants by the hundreds. And this was all on top of its many amusement attractions.

Some consequences of this unchecked monopoly are obvious. Entertainment behemoth Disney has become one of the biggest corporations in the entire world. In 2022, for instance, Disney brought in close to $83 billion — which is double the GDP of whole European and South American countries.

“What’s more, the company’s success has been far less reciprocal than Disney would care to admit,” the auditors wrote. “As of November 2023, institutional investors attribute over 85 percent of Disney’s current stock-market value to its theme-park and consumer-products related businesses. So as advantageous as Disney has been to Central Florida, the converse is true many times over.”

Yet other results of Disney’s corporate cronyism and monopoly power have remained hidden — until now.

Crooked Kickbacks

Perhaps one of the most egregious revelations from the audit was the unethical flow of perks and benefits from Disney to RCID employees. Disney effectively bought the loyalty of the district.

According to the report, here’s how it worked: Disney would provide flashy perks to Reedy Creek employees, many of which weren’t available to the general public. These benefits included up to 40 percent off Disney cruises and merchandise, other discounts on resort rooms and services, and millions of dollars worth of Disney park annual passes for not only employees but also their friends and family — plus free, single-use, transferable tickets over the holidays. District employees even received some privileges reserved for Disney workers, known as “cast members,” such as gifts and invites to closed-door parties. Of course, none of these kickbacks were included in workers’ taxable income.

This obviously gave the appearance of impropriety, especially considering Florida’s gift statutes, which are similar to those of other states and government entities. Unbeknown to district employees, however, Reedy Creek’s board members and managers were paying Disney for these perks with tax dollars. As the auditors explained, “The effect of this arrangement was that Disney received full payment for the privileges RCID employees enjoyed, but most employees believed they received those privileges as a gift from Disney.”

This secret exchange inevitably resulted in Disney favoritism, the report noted. For instance, district employees were incentivized to purchase significantly discounted merchandise from The Mouse (subsidized by taxpayers) instead of non-discounted goods sold by non-Disney sellers (who were paying taxes that funded the Disney subsidies).

These weren’t the district’s only shady fiduciary actions. According to the report, “The former District Administrator charged hundreds of thousands of dollars on his District American Express card for celebrations, sports tickets, memberships, meetings, and other events.”

Crumbling Infrastructure

The audit also revealed Reedy Creek’s broad mismanagement and negligence regarding district infrastructure and growth needs. For example, when doling out contracts, RDIC failed to secure the best goods, services, and prices. Instead, it prioritized so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and chose its contractors on the basis of skin color.

Disney meanwhile used RDIC as its personal pocketbook and resource bank, pressuring the district to favor the company in its permitting and policing, the report showed. Reedy Creek spent $700 million on Disney parking garages at taxpayers’ expense and failed to keep careful records of other exorbitant purchases, such as a $70 million utility buy from Disney.

A forensic accounting expert involved in the audit found that Reedy Creek devised one particular contract to throw $7.7 million at Disney for “expected impact costs due to road construction affecting a Disney-owned golf course,” but there was no evidence showing due diligence from RDIC to conduct price comparisons or analysis.

Then, according to auditors, when roads needed maintenance between 2018 and 2022, RDIC put it off, running costs up even higher. And despite Disney’s empty promises, the roughly 100,000 people who work in Reedy Creek must commute because there’s no housing for them in the district, leading to even more externalities, such as traffic jams and commuter costs. As the auditors noted, “Between 2019 and the present, the workforce required by Disney has grown from 70,000 to more than 100,000, and future anticipated development could add another 30,000 employees.” Reedy Creek had no plan for this boom.

Disdain for Democracy

Disney, drunk on power, opposed commonsense checks and balances, including even democracy itself. Based on the analysis of another expert, Professor Donald Kochan, the auditors drew this damning conclusion:

The historical record demonstrates that Disney disdained voters from the outset and did not want its special district or its corporate choices to be subject to public accountability through popular elections, despite how it had marketed its ideas to the legislature. Disney’s consultants on the Disney World and special district project advised Disney to “limit the scope of democracy” so Disney would be “freed from impediments to change, such as … elected political officials. … Because Disney ran the District, its land use and planning decisions were not subject to “veto points” and “choke points,” which are purposeful institutional restraints in our constitutional system.

In that same spirit, as the old Reedy Creek board was on its way out the door this spring, it instituted several 11th-hour agreements to try to maintain the corrupt status quo for decades — against the will of Floridians and the representatives they elected.

Disney’s Downfall

Thankfully, the DeSantis-created CFTOD is working to course-correct, despite a few disgruntled Florida lawmakers like Democrat state Sen. Linda Stewart trying to revert to the failures of Reedy Creek. No doubt the district’s new government structure has kinks to work out, but good on DeSantis for bucking the system of corruption that’s marbled everywhere in the country and turned virtually all of America into company towns. Disney probably thought it was entitled to this special treatment because most state and local governments give corporations mega entitlements; just look at sports stadiums and teams for one notorious example. In other words, the report is just the tip of the corporate iceberg — but DeSantis deserves major credit for taking a pick to it.

But beyond the bounds of Florida, the story of Reedy Creek is also just the next chapter in the story of Disney’s downfall.

Last year, we learned, thanks to Christopher Rufo exposing a video call between Disney execs, about Disney’s “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.” One animation executive producer bragged about “wherever I could, adding queerness. No one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me,” while the president of the company’s General Entertainment Content praised the “many, many, many” LGBT characters but lamented the lack of gay and transgender leads. This while Disney pledged that half of its characters, actors, and staff would be from “underrepresented groups,” such as nonwhite, gay, or transgender, by the end of 2022.

It’s not working out so well. On Disney’s centenary, the mouse is floundering. And as Nathan Stone wrote in The Federalist last week, the company’s woes aren’t just box-office flukes. “They’re more like box-office bloodbaths.” Two of this year’s animated releases, “Elemental” and “Wish,” have been flops, with the latter bringing in less than $32 million over its opening Thanksgiving weekend, despite expectations of $45 million to $55 million and a production budget of $200 million. “Strange World” was even worse, losing Disney some $200 million last year.

Meanwhile, Disney’s supposedly reliable cash cows are fainting, from Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings bombing at the box office and on Disney-Plus to the Star Wars well drying up to live-action remakes falling woefully short.

That’s what happens when you declare war on the families that comprise your audience — and then blame them for walking away. As Stone explained, that’s exactly what Disney has done:

Is “Kenobi,” the Disney-Plus show about Obi-wan Kenobi, failing? Blame the fans. Are “Elemental” and “Wish” horrible disappointments? Blame the consumers. Are people not enthusiastic about what was obviously supposed to be the female replacement for Indiana Jones? Blame the fans. Do you admit that “The Marvels” is horrible? The audience is misogynistic and homophobic.

Disney, however, has a bigger need than reclaiming its spurned audience; it desperately needs to rehabilitate its brand. The sins of Reedy Creek won’t make that any easier.

Many Americans fell out of love with a Mouse that wants to trans their kids. Learning that it also hates democracy, screws taxpayers, thrives on bribery, and kills its would-be competitors probably won’t help woo them back.

https://thefederalist.com/2023/12/04/bombshell-audit-reveals-how-disney-bribed-and-scammed-its-way-into-an-unaccountable-florida-empire/


They FA&FO!

Iger most likely won't meet his newest retirement date. Says he's there until 2026. I don't think he lasts that long.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2023/11/29/bob-iger-says-he-will-definitely-step-down-after-contract-expires-in-2026/?sh=64dfb4f11063
DrMaddVibe Offline
#476 Posted: Mon, Dec 4 2023, 4:23 PM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
It's the Florida governor's fault Disney sucks! It's Elon's fault Disney sucks! It's movie go-er's fault Disney sucks. No, it's a rogue company acting out of control in THE tourism capital of the World and EVERYONE KNOWS it's their OWN DAMNED FAULT!

Disney Decided to Boycott X, Then a New Report Completely Exposed the Company



The recent decision by Disney to pull its advertising from X drew fire from Elon Musk. During a conference appearance, the billionaire used the far more explicit form of telling someone to go jump in a lake to respond to the move. Musk also called out Disney CEO Bob Iger by name, accusing him of trying to "blackmail" X with money to eliminate free speech on the social media platform.

What was the reason behind Disney's move? According to reports, the company was reacting to a manufactured Media Matters "study" in which they were able to produce some ads next to antisemitic content. As RedState noted, the far-left activist group did so by creating an account, heavily curating its timeline, and then hitting refresh over and over until they got a statistically minuscule result. That was then provided as part of a call to boycott X, one which Disney dutifully followed.

Was Disney's move sincere, though, or was it just an excuse for the beleaguered entertainment company to once again make a leftwing political statement? According to evidence provided by The Wall Street Journal, the answer appears to be the latter.

What is the inappropriate content? According to the Journal's reporting, it includes sexually explicit content involving children. In other words, Disney pulled its ads from X over a flawed conclusion put out by the discredited organization Media Matters but continues to advertise on Instagram despite its ads showing up next to child pornography.

Does that make Disney's motivations for pulling ads from X clear enough? If this were really about concern for the brand, why would Disney continue to advertise on Instagram? Why hasn't it immediately paused its advertising on the platform?

Then there's the specific idea of antisemitic content. According to a recent study, Chinese-controlled TikTok is, by far, the biggest purveyor of antisemitic content. It has become a home for pro-Hamas "influencers" who spew genocidal viewpoints daily. Guess where Disney still advertises? That would be TikTok.

Disney's disparate decision-making when it comes to advertising completely exposes the company as a political actor simply trying to punish free speech on a single platform. If any of this were really about inappropriate content, the entertainment company would have paused advertising across the board. It didn't because it sees no risk in spiting those who support Musk's quest for some semblance of a free public square. Perhaps conservatives should show them there is a financial risk.

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/12/03/disney-decided-to-boycott-x-then-a-new-report-completly-exposed-the-company-n2167108

I cannot wait for them to part the Haus of Maose out.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#477 Posted: Thu, Dec 7 2023, 12:16 PM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
Disney always willing to toss it's weight around...that was then.

Waaay before DEI. Wanna go woke? You get broke!

Disney want's to hold on to their title of "World F@ck Around & Find Out Champion" and will gladly go after what they want!

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/why-no-advertiser-boycott-musk-nails-disneys-iger-after-facebook-child-sexual-abuse
rfenst Offline
#478 Posted: Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:44 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Judge Dismisses Disney’s Suit Against Ron DeSantis
Company had accused Florida governor of ‘targeted campaign of government retaliation’



https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/judge-dismisses-disneys-suit-against-ron-desantis-6b7c044b?mod=djemwhatsnews
DrMaddVibe Offline
#479 Posted: Thu, Feb 1 2024, 8:36 AM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
Court Dismisses Disney’s Lawsuit Against Florida Over Losing Private Control Of Government



A federal judge dismissed the Walt Disney Company’s lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida officials on Wednesday, ruling the company lacked standing and evidence to bring its suit.

Writing for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Judge Allen Winsor ruled that Disney has no legal basis for suing DeSantis and Florida’s secretary of commerce in response to the state’s restructuring of the Reedy Creek Improvement District into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD). The former allowed Disney to essentially be its own local government.

“In short, Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor or the Secretary,” Winsor wrote, dismissing the company’s lawsuit.

The dispute between DeSantis and Disney began nearly two years ago, after the latter launched a grossly dishonest attack against Florida Republicans for passing a parental rights bill. The bill prevents educators from instructing children in kindergarten through third grade on sexual orientation and so-called “gender identity.” Bending the knee to Democrats and their media allies — who maliciously labeled the law as the “Don’t Say Gay” law — then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek parroted leftist lies that the law “could be used to target [LGBT] kids and families.”

Chapek also claimed the company would be “reassessing [its] approach to advocacy, including political giving in Florida and beyond.”

DeSantis and Florida Republicans passed legislation shortly thereafter that stripped Disney of its self-oversight authority within the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The Florida governor later announced five new appointees to the district’s board in February 2023 after state legislators approved legislation renaming the jurisdiction to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

In an attempt to out-maneuver DeSantis, then-Reedy Creek officials, as The Federalist’s Tristan Justice reported, passed an “11th-hour resolution to hand Disney maximum authority over the company’s 27,000 acres in central Florida,” which effectively left DeSantis’ CFTOD-appointees “powerless to govern Disney in their own state.” DeSantis ordered an investigation into the matter in April 2023 after Disney reportedly “skipped key steps when amending its developmental agreement, rendering the resolution null and void.”

It was Florida’s launch of the investigation that prompted Disney to file a federal lawsuit alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” by DeSantis and state officials against the company for its opposition to the parental rights bill.

Citing a prior court ruling, Winsor determined that Disney presented no evidence to justify its claims that Florida’s actions were retaliatory and violated its First Amendment rights to free speech. Disney’s “claims against the CFTOD Defendants fail on the merits because ‘when a statute is facially constitutional, a plaintiff cannot bring a free-speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose,'” Winsor wrote.

DeSantis Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern celebrated Wednesday’s ruling in a tweet, reaffirming prior remarks from the Florida governor that “the Corporate Kingdom is over.”

“The days of Disney controlling its own government and being placed above the law are long gone,” Redfern wrote. “The federal court’s decision made it clear that Governor DeSantis was correct: Disney is still just one of many corporations in the state, and they do not have a right to their own special government.”

https://thefederalist.com/2024/01/31/court-dismisses-disneys-lawsuit-against-florida-over-losing-private-control-of-government/

Iger...FA&FO Champion...don't quit now! C'mon, step up and show normal citizens how important it is to use the weaponization of your entire corporation to exploit and groom children. That's not gay. That's insane. Dare to dream Iger. Tic toc...tic toc...
MACS Offline
#480 Posted: Fri, Mar 29 2024, 3:53 PM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,779
Looks like they've given up... they were wrong and they knew it and now they're admitting it.

DeSantis - 1 Disney - 0

"Under the settlement, Disney stipulates that the development agreements are “null and void.” The two sides will immediately start the process of negotiating a new deal.

“We are glad that Disney has dropped its lawsuits against the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and conceded that their last-minute development agreements are null, void, and unenforceable,” said a DeSantis spokesman in a statement. “No corporation should be its own government. Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the District to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”

In the deal, Disney also agrees to drop its lawsuit against the CFTOD over claims that the group illegally voided an agreement that allegedly transferred certain powers of the company’s now-dissolved special tax district back to Disney."
HockeyDad Offline
#481 Posted: Fri, Mar 29 2024, 4:05 PM EST
Joined: 09-20-2000
Posts: 46,134
Disney’s stock has been a disaster over the past few years as its value was cut in half even before the grooming outrage. There are two investor led groups who have started a proxy fight to replace members of the board. Disney’s stock popped on this hope and I bought a little for fun, a quick profit, and voted with the activist investor who wants two seats on the board. I’m curious to see the outcome of the contested vote.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#482 Posted: Sat, Mar 30 2024, 8:07 AM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
MACS...I see the score at 4-0.

1 - The Disney Don't Say Gay propaganda fails and the law passes.

2 - Disney loses Reedy Creek and the sweet sweet package they held over the state and their competitors.

3 - Disney loses the appeal for Reedy Creek.

4 - Disney has been halved by their FA&FO DEI policies. They make terrible movies, they've destroyed the mighty dominant Marvel grip hold they had at the Box Office. Nobody wants to see a Snow White movie with a Hispanic girl crying rape to normal sized dwarfs because she was kissed by a prince trying to break a witches spell. The Star Wars juggernaut neutered by movie after movie that has scripts written by morons, acted out by the Rainbow Actors Coalition...because the legacy was racist, homophobic, mysonigist and well made a gazillion dollars and was beloved by every nation and children with Happy Meal toys.

They're reaping what they sowed and now...parks are not at capacity. Cruise lines not at capacity and well Disney+ continues to **** the bed. The corporation needs to be parted out. The CEO fired. The Board of Directors hung out to dry. If they do that then perhaps they will turn profitable at all the endeavors I mentioned. The parks are keeping the business afloat only due to tourists that haven't figured out they’re marks paying exorbitant ticket prices, hotel bills and destination fees. Anyone I knew that had annual passes dropped them over their Covid policies and reupped with Universal Studios instead. There's a reason why wait times for rides at Disney are nearing record lows. Disney...raised ticket prices again. They will kill the golden goose too.
MACS Offline
#483 Posted: Sat, Mar 30 2024, 8:46 AM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,779
^Well... yeah, there's THAT.

I was just tallying up the most recent event.
8trackdisco Offline
#484 Posted: Sat, Mar 30 2024, 10:41 AM EST
Joined: 11-06-2004
Posts: 60,076
Disney couldn’t possibly fail fast enough or far enough for me taste.
MACS Offline
#485 Posted: Sun, Mar 31 2024, 6:18 AM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,779
8trackdisco wrote:
Disney couldn’t possibly fail fast enough or far enough for me taste.


Agreed... I feel dirty when I have to look at ESPN for sports news or scores.
Speyside2 Offline
#486 Posted: Sun, Mar 31 2024, 6:00 PM EST
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,387
Disney and Desantis have reached an agreement that they both feel they both individually benefited from. In the long run Desantis/Florida state government is more powerful than Disney in Florida. It will be interesting to see how the relationship moves forward. By reaching an agreement they both saved face so to speak.
rfenst Offline
#487 Posted: Mon, Apr 1 2024, 10:57 AM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
Speyside2 wrote:
Disney and Desantis have reached an agreement that they both feel they both individually benefited from. In the long run Desantis/Florida state government is more powerful than Disney in Florida. It will be interesting to see how the relationship moves forward. By reaching an agreement they both saved face so to speak.

The relationship won't truly move forward until the state legislatures and governor receive campaign contributions.
HockeyDad Offline
#488 Posted: Mon, Apr 1 2024, 11:09 AM EST
Joined: 09-20-2000
Posts: 46,134
Disney needed this to go away because they have bigger problems with two separate shareholder activists pushing for seats on the board of directors and another shareholder activist group suing over a deal Disney cut last year with another shareholder group.

Disney needs to get back to its core business of sexualizing preteens instead trying to sexualize elementary school age kids.
rfenst Offline
#489 Posted: Wed, Apr 3 2024, 3:12 PM EST
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,323
HockeyDad wrote:
Disney needed this to go away because they have bigger problems with two separate shareholder activists pushing for seats on the board of directors and another shareholder activist group suing over a deal Disney cut last year with another shareholder group.


Disney, Bob Iger Defeat Activist Nelson Peltz in Shareholder Vote
Investors support company’s slate of board nominees; Peltz loses bid to become a director in win for the Disney CEO

WSJ
Disney DIS -3.13%decrease; red down pointing triangle defeated activist shareholder Nelson Peltz in a bruising fight for influence in the entertainment giant’s boardroom, handing CEO Bob Iger a major victory over one of Wall Street’s most aggressive investors.

The company said Wednesday that shareholders voted to elect its entire slate of board nominees, while Peltz, who has argued Disney needs a fresh voice to hold management accountable, lost his bid to become a director.

Disney said its slate of 12 directors won shareholder support “by a substantial margin.” according to preliminary results.

Shareholders threw their support behind Iger, with the CEO securing 94% of votes cast, while Disney director Maria Elena Lagomasino, whose seat Trian contested, won 63%, according to people familiar. Peltz won 31% of votes cast.

Retail investors—which represent more than a third of Disney shareholders—were particularly helpful. Some 75% of retail investors who cast votes backed the company’s slate.

The outcome of the vote leaves control of the boardroom firmly in the hands of Iger-friendly directors—all but one of whom were appointed on his watch—as the company looks to follow through on a number of major goals, from turning a profit on streaming to reinvigorating a studio business that has lost some of its magic.

“With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers,” Iger said in a statement.

He told shareholders at the meeting that the company is now on a more solid foundation, strengthened by its action over the past year. “We have turned the corner,” he said.

The results are a blow to Peltz’s Trian Partners, which has been trying to revive itself after investor withdrawals and a string of employee exits.

“We are proud of the impact we have had in refocusing this Company on value creation and good governance,” Trian said in a statement after the results.

Shares of Disney fell 1.7% in afternoon trading. Before Wednesday, the stock had risen 35% so far this year.

Iger on Wednesday showcased his strategy, pointing to an “incredibly robust slate” of films planned for coming years, including “Mufasa,” “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.” He touted a feature film sequel to “Moana” set for release in November and a new season of FX’s “The Bear,” a show that dominated this year’s Emmy awards.

He said Disney plans to make the company’s stand-alone ESPN service available on its Disney+ as a bundled offering, as Hulu now is, and said the company is working on a raft of new experiences at its theme parks.

The corporate showdown was expected to be the priciest proxy fight ever, pitting a titan of the entertainment industry and its blue-chip, celebrity CEO against a pit bull activist and his ally, a fired Marvel executive.

For Iger, who for years won near-universal praise in Hollywood and on Wall Street for his stewardship of Disney—including the vision to pursue deals that brought in franchises like Star Wars and Marvel—Peltz’s proxy fight was an unusual and irritating public rebuke.

Peltz had criticized many areas of Disney’s operations, including that it needed to be more like Netflix, its creative engines had stalled and its sports unit ESPN needed a better plan. However, the argument that resonated the most with investors was that Disney’s board had failed badly at finding a successor to Iger.

Nelson Peltz criticized Disney’s direction on several fronts. PHOTO: CALLA KESSLER/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Despite Disney’s win, the fact it was such a hotly contested fight will put corporate America on notice: any board that fails to carry out proper succession planning could face a reckoning.

“It’s never a zero-sum game, where you simply win or you lose. A substantial vote for the other side is something that the company can’t ignore,” said Wei Jiang, a professor of finance at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. The Disney-Trian fight stood out because of the focus on succession planning, a relatively rare bone of contention in activist campaigns, she said.

Beating Peltz puts Iger back on the front foot, but he will have plenty of work ahead of him to prove to investors they made the right choice.

One priority: Iger and the Disney board will have to get to work narrowing down a field of potential CEO successors. Iger’s contract runs to 2026, when he has promised to step down.

The top internal contenders include Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairs of Disney Entertainment, which includes the company’s television, streaming and studio units; Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, which includes Disney’s lucrative theme parks; and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, which is in the throes of a high-stakes pivot to streaming.

Dana Walden is one of the potential CEO successors at Disney. PHOTO: BRYAN STEFFY/VARIETY/GETTY IMAGES
Iger also must follow through on the various initiatives Disney put forward during the shareholder fight and show that they can deliver returns, including an online sports bundle to be launched alongside Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.

There is more work ahead in carrying out longer-running initiatives to expand Disney’s sports streaming offerings with an ESPN direct-to-consumer app, while managing a broad structural decline in the cable TV business that has proved challenging to the company and its rivals. Disney also faces rising competition in theme parks, content streaming and family entertainment.

Disney executives and board members, including Iger, visited major institutional shareholders in recent weeks, touting the company’s progress in moving toward streaming profitability and its plans to revitalize its studio—and arguing that it would be problematic and disruptive for the company and Iger if Peltz joins the board. Disney also ran a host of ads encouraging shareholders to support its slate of directors.

Individual investors were expected to have outsize sway, given that they hold more than one-third of shares. While Peltz led Lagomasino for votes in early voting, The Journal reported, Disney was able to turn the tide, convincing large shareholders like BlackRock, Vanguard and T. Rowe Price to support its board nominees.

State Street, Disney’s third-largest shareholder, withheld support for incumbent directors Lagomasino and board chair Mark Parker but decided not to support Trian’s slate, according to people familiar with the matter.

Another twist in this fight was the use of a so-called universal proxy card, which allowed shareholders to mix and match candidates when casting votes, rather than siding with an entire slate over another. This voting method likely played in Peltz’s favor, granting him more votes than he may have received otherwise, experts say.

Peltz, backed by his friend and former Marvel chairman Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, who lent his more than 25 million shares to the fight, sought seats on the Disney board for himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. They ran for positions held by incumbent directors Lagomasino and Michael Froman.

Trian spent weeks traveling to meet with investors, at times seeing the same shareholders multiple times to make its case, portraying Disney’s board as complacent and beholden to the will of a CEO who struggles to let go.

As investors cast their votes, Peltz and Elon Musk discussed the possibility of the Tesla CEO weighing in to support Trian. Musk called some investors to help Peltz win votes and on Wednesday morning publicly endorsed him on Twitter.

The hedge fund appears to have so far profited from its Disney investment, given that the stock has gone from well under $100 to around $121 since Trian arrived.

A separate activist campaign by Blackwells Capital, which sought to add three board members, failed to get much traction in part because the firm held a comparatively small stake in Disney’s stock. Blackwells said in a statement Wednesday it achieved its primary objective—preventing Peltz from getting elected.
HockeyDad Offline
#490 Posted: Wed, Apr 3 2024, 3:23 PM EST
Joined: 09-20-2000
Posts: 46,134
I voted for the Peltz package and then sold my stock knowing Iger would likely win.
Speyside2 Offline
#491 Posted: Wed, Apr 3 2024, 3:38 PM EST
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,387
Perhaps a vote such as this is predetermined no matter what the actual vote is.
HockeyDad Offline
#492 Posted: Wed, Apr 3 2024, 3:53 PM EST
Joined: 09-20-2000
Posts: 46,134
To win one of these you have to have the big ETFs and mutual funds behind it like Vanguard and Fidelity who get to vote millions of shares.
DrMaddVibe Offline
#493 Posted: Wed, Apr 3 2024, 5:21 PM EST
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,431
HockeyDad wrote:
I voted for the Peltz package and then sold my stock knowing Iger would likely win.


Should've just shorted the crap out of it then.

The death knell is baked in now with the House of Maouse. They can't make movies anyone wants to see anymore. They've killed off Marvel and Star Wars franchises. ESPN is a wokefest of Sports. Cruise lines and parks both have lower attendances...AND they had the balls to raise the prices!

Iger is a deadman walking at a company he helped kill twice now!
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