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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Reedy Creek

    The Reedy Creek Improvement District was the ultimate act of outsourcing; heck, the government outsourced itself:
    The Florida Legislature established the 39-square-mile district in 1967 to lure Disney to the state. It gives Disney, a private business that owns almost all the land within the district, powers generally reserved for governments -- including the ability to issue municipal bonds.

    The district also exempts major new projects within its boundaries from Development of Regional Impact reviews, known as DRI reviews, by state growth-management officials. Those reviews force developers to mitigate the effects of large projects on surrounding communities.
    However,
    [t]o prepare for another takeover bid for Walt Disney Co., state lawmakers could consider taking away that perk, the research arm of the Legislature said in a report published Monday.

    The report, prepared by the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, represents the first state review of Disney World's government -- the Reedy Creek Improvement District -- in nearly four decades.

    The Legislature requested the review in April, shortly after Comcast Corp. launched an unsuccessful takeover bid for Disney. At the time, some lawmakers questioned whether Disney's government powers should transfer to a new owner with little history in Central Florida.
    "Disney powers could be cut, panel says". Now that the takeover threat has passed, it appears there will not be any changes:
    State Rep. Andy Gardiner, an Orlando Republican who requested the report, said that he had no plans to push for such a change.
    If you're wondering why Gardiner reached that conclusion:
    Officials with Reedy Creek and Disney agreed that no changes were needed.
    Ahem, it seems to me that it was Gardiner agreeing with his corporate patrons, not the other way around.

4:10 AM

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