Authoritarians can never be told “no.” So when the Walt Disney Company outsmarted Florida’s glob of smug and Old Spice Ron DeSantis by removing all power from a board overseeing its properties, DeSantis could not let that stand. In his quest to punish anyone who challenges his claim of unquestionable authority, DeSantis has directed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board to take over approval for development for the two Florida jurisdictions where Disney has properties, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.
When Disney spoke out against the bigotry inherent in DeSantis’s signature “Don’t Say Gay” law that effectively bans discussion of LGBTQ people in schools, it put the power of the state’s largest employer in opposition to the well-heeled governor, who has sights set for the White House. The latest DeSantis resolution, made possible when the Republican legislature gave him more power over the property, would put the CFTOD in charge of approving all development in the two cities, taking that authority away from local governments, Reuters reports. The retaliatory move would give DeSantis’s hand-picked board members direct authority to reject any changes the company wants to make on the 25,000 acres it controls.