I’ve written at length about DeSantis’ war with Mickey, which was sparked in early 2022 when Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek issued a press release criticizing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill (dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by many of its critics) after it passed. Disney didn’t actually do anything about the bill after that press release, but it was enough to trigger DeSantis’ ire.
Cue a year-and-a-half of hastily-passed, poorly-conceived, unconstitutional bills in which the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature did DeSantis’ bidding without question or challenge, initially trying to repeal RCID outright and then backing off after they had their noses rubbed in the politically unpalatable stench of RCID’s billion-dollar-plus bond debt that would have then been dumped on county taxpayers — plus some other intractable road blocks related to the RCID-employed firefighters.
Since then, the renamed “Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board” has been an exercise in petty threats and what I’ve called “a deliberate, weaponized incompetence,”
Leonard didn’t name the firefighter who “broke down in tears,” but Scott Gustin, an independent reporter who covers developments at Disney and other theme parks, tweeted a video of a RCFD firefighter named Pete Simon talking about how important these park passes were to his family and fellow firefighters, and the sense of betrayal they felt.
Pete Simon, a Reedy Creek firefighter, made a powerful statement during today’s CFTOD meeting about the impact of removing generational benefits for families.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) August 23, 2023
“This week marks the first brick being pulled in the dismantling of the district … my only question is, what’s next?” pic.twitter.com/bzt8tW5fc8