In his yearlong battle with Disney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly leaned on the element of surprise. But when Disney struck back, it was the Republican governor who was seemingly caught off guard.
“Nobody can see this coming,” DeSantis told a top Republican legislative leader as they planned a move against Disney last year, he recalled in his new book. But when Disney finally struck back and thwarted, for now, a DeSantis-led state takeover of its long-standing special taxing district, it was the Republican governor who was seemingly caught off guard.
It was possibly illegal, unless the state wanted to pay off the district’s outstanding debt, estimated at $1 billion. Meanwhile, bond rating agencies were threatening a downgrade, and nearby local governments expressed little interest in taking on the maintenance and services for the district’s 25,000 sprawling acres around Disney’s Orlando-area theme parks. The visit by Treadwell and Ben Watkins, the state’s seasoned bond director, lasted about an hour.
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