Vern here, and I’m sharing a petition from Change.Org, with a text written by a few friends of ours. We’re gonna be talking a lot this year about Disneyland Forward, the corporation’s 30-year plan for Central Anaheim.
This is TIMELY because – news flash – they are planning to spring it on us at the JANUARY 23 COUNCIL MEETING. Yes, Disney’s publicists are secretly lining up uncritical boosters to give comments that evening, and we are going to need as many well-informed speakers there as possible.
Just as in 1993, the Disney Corporation plans to profit as much as possible, while giving back as LITTLE as possible to their host city, if we and the Council let them. In private, they describe this plan as “building another Disneyland INSIDE Disneyland” and probably doubling the $5.7 BILLION A YEAR Disneyland currently makes, only a tiny fraction of which Anaheim sees.
If we indeed have a Council that represents the interests of Anaheim rather than Disney, there are at least two demands they should make – NOT taking any of our public streets as they want to, and helping out substantially with AFFORDABLE HOUSING giving that they are proposing adding up to 14,000 new employees, while many of their current employees are homeless, living in cars or Corona, or couch-surfing.
Alternatively if Disney agreed to a 2% Entertainment Tax or Fee to go into our General Fund, that could go a long way toward “consideration.” We’ll be talking about this a lot more this year… and here is the petition which you can sign here.
Did you know Disney is asking City Hall to change, or even close, roads we use every day? In the 1990’s, Anaheim allowed Disney to reroute and close public streets that residents had used for generations. Now “Disneyland Forward” wants even more of our public streets!
What do they plan to do?
Buried in a 17,000-page document are plans to narrow existing streets around the Resort, back out of past deals to complete roads Disney promised, and even close some of the streets we use daily to access the freeway!
Do you avoid the mess on already-crowded Harbor, Ball, and Katella, by using convenient Magic Way and Disneyland Drive to get to the freeway? Disney’s new plan closes Magic Way and all (or portions) of Disneyland Drive between Ball and Katella.
Road closures mean that high-value, taxpayer-owned real estate would be privatized for Disney’s profitable use, with no benefit to local residents. Heavier traffic impacts air quality, and further delays our own daily commutes. Most of all, closing the streets that intersect the Resort will create an isolated, walled fortress, with Disney turning its back on the community.
Wait! Can Disney close our public roads?
Disney can’t do this by themselves, but they can persuade elected officials to close the roads our taxes pay for.
Frankly, reliable information about these changes has been hard to find. To fact-check Disney and argue against these changes, ordinary Anaheim residents have been sifting through thousands of pages of a massive technical document, crafted by Disney. We were given only 45 days to review, counter misinformation, and comment on Disney’s plans.
After expenses, tourism only pays less than 25% of the Anaheim General Fund. As majority taxpayers, why are we so often left out of the discussion when the future of the city we pay for is being decided? Disneyland has been an integral part of Anaheim since 1955. The growth and expansion of Anaheim’s “economic engine” of tourism should benefit all stakeholders. Disney’s new profits should not come at the expense of our quality of life.
What can we do?
Yes, Disney is a massive corporation but, by standing together, we can make our voices heard. This petition asks Anaheim leaders to consider alternatives that benefit both tourism and taxpayers. Additionally, we call for increased truth and transparency in these dealings, and we can start at the January 23 Council meeting.
Sign this petition today; help us save Magic Way and other public roads for public benefit, not private profit.
If you have any questions, please email savemagicway@gmail.com… and PLEASE SIGN HERE!
I’ll sign, but given that Anaheim can only do this because it’s a charter city — a general law city could not simply give up so many of its assets for nothing (h/t to Cynthia) — I think that it may be time to ask the state government to disincorporate Anaheim and return it to general law status.
We now know why Disney has spent SO MUCH MONEY electing a Council majority that will provide absolutely no checks on its grasping for power: to rid itself of its responsibilities under any prior agreement and get free rein to do anything it wants in its “walled city”, of which Anaheim is to be a de facto slum through which visitors will not have to pass, if you don’t count the airspace.
Enough. Get rid of this council the hard way before the legalized thievery is complete. And, yeah, hopefully there’s someway that the people who were installed by Disney specifically because they would sell out the city can be sent to prison. Only fear of personal consequences might make them hesitate to — I’ll use a nice word — “cooperate.”
Hmm — OK, it’s not “disincorporation,” it’s merely “charter repeal.” It requires 10% of the population to petition to put it in the ballot.
(Disincorporation is, I think, what should happen to the City of Industry.)
Source: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Albuquerque3_-_Foundational_Aspects_of_Charter_Cities.pdf
So the Disney expansion talks are set for the 23rd of January? If so, then I’ll go and hold up the entire meeting until they meet our demands (Mine included)
Sounds sarcastic. I guess you don’t take democracy too seriously.
Yes, it is the 23rd, unless Disney has noticed that we know. If anyone is trying to slow down the proceedings, it’s Disney, who is quietly trying to line up a buttload of uncritical cheerleaders.
I do take democracy seriously and I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic. I did have plans to hold up the council meeting discussing the expansion, but after some thought I decided that I will attend the meeting and make my voice heard, but I will not hold up the council.
What do you mean by “hold up the council”? Put up a bandana and pull out two six guns and ask them to empty their pockets? Gather them together into a ball and do a clean and jerk with them? Refuse to sit down when your speaking time is over? I think no one here understands what you’re saying.
Refuse to sit when my time was up, But after giving it some thought, I decided not to “hold up” the council, Instead I shall say my piece and sit down once I am done as there are other more important concerns over the expansion than mine
In that case I look forward to hearing and meeting you.
I’m generally dead set against closing public streets for any reason, but in this case the I don’t see very much harm.
On the other hand Disney should pay for the abandonment. I wonder how that would work with the new Surplus Property rules.
I do find it ironic that still no one seems willing to talk about the fireworks smoke and debris Disney rains down on its neighbors almost every night. That’s harmful.
There are a lot of other concerns, Magic Way and Disneyland Drive are just the first and simplest.
Is there a list?
We’re working on it. But up at the top is the fact that they firmly intend NO HELP with housing while planning to add 14,000 employees to their work force.
A Gate Tax could make a lot of this go down easier, at a time that they are increasing their profits by billions per year.
BTW this petition (the part not in italics) was largely written by Cynthia (with others.)
It would be nice to have specifics, even if it’s just bullet points.
I’d like to know what they want to renege on.
There’s literally a team of smart people poring through the environmental documents, as well as another team of us who’ve been meeting regularly with the Disney folks learning what we can. Stay tuned. If we can pull it off we’ll have our own workshops.
Hey Zenger, Happy New Year.
Quick hit of some of the more egregious issues;
Remember the Gene Autry Way bridge to nowhere? If Disney gets their way, it will remain a bridge to nowhere. It was supposed to go across Disney’s strawberry field/Toy Story lot, to connect the freeway to Convention Way, and give one more outlet for Resort traffic to not clog Katella and Harbor. Taxpayers put up tens of millions, in addition to taking homes by eminent domain, to complete the system to this point. Now Disney wants out of the agreement to dedicate ROW easement over their property to connect the two sides of the street.
More to follow. But that one really pissed me off. We spent the money, disrupted peoples’ lives taking their mobile homes, and now the entire project will remain useless. Disney signed agreements in 1996, promising to do their part. Now they want out, while demanding road closures on the public end. Not cool.
That was supposed to be part of some grand esplanade that went from the stadium to the CC. I never understood the purpose of that – except being another vanity legacy project of Pringle. But I can see the utility of freeway access, but eventually that traffic would still dump onto Harbor, no?
P.S. let me know if you need assistance reading through the mountain of paper.
I’ll add you to our email chain tonight.
A “Gate Tax” would make Anaheim like every other city with a significant entertainment venue, including Disney Florida. If they want Reedy Creek West with control of the entire resort district, let them pay their fair share!
Yeah, but from Disney’s perspective, where’s the fun in that?
Serious question: does Buena Park get a gate tax from Knott’s Berry Farm? If it doesn’t, maybe that’s because it’s not trying to swallow up the local government.
Honestly a Disneyfication of Harbor Blvd sounds great considering the state that it currently is it. Let it be more pedestrian friendly. Let families walk there safely from their hotels. I live off Harbor blvd and it is a pedestrian nightmare as it stands.
Umm, you do realize that Harbor Blvd. is one of the two main north-south surface streets in Orange County, right? (The other one, Beach, really wanted to be a freeway — between the 55-57 and the 605, but its growth was stunted.) Privatizing Harbor for Disney’s profitable use would be both ridiculous and heinous. Cross at the crosswalks and you’ll be OK. If you just don’t want to be in proximity to people who can’t afford a ticket to walk down it — well, let’s see whether that’s your actual position before I address it.
Who says it’s a pedestrian “nightmare.” Do you have some statistics that suggest it’s more dangerous than any other arterial in Anaheim? Lots of pedestrians make for a safer environment because traffic slows down.
The gate tax at Disney World is 6.5%. No Greg, BP does not charge Knotts but Cedar Park (Knott’s owner) sponsored an initiative to increase the gate tax on itself to cover a deficit in Sandusky OH.
Thanks, Steve. I continue to suspect that opposition to the Gate Tax in Anaheim is largely led by the middle managers who may get some personal benefit by the maximization of company profits.