The Riverside Press-Enterprise
District chair takes stab at Disney
New governing body leader: ‘Nothing is off the table at this point’
The new chair of Disney World’s revamped governing body said Wednesday that new supervisors had good intentions about collaborating with the company after they were appointed by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, so it was “shameful” when Disney signed agreements with their predecessors stripping them of most of their authority.
“Our board wanted to work with Disney, but Disney decided they didn’t want to work with us. It was Disney’s way or the highway,” Martin Garcia, chair of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said at the start of a board meeting.
In response, he had a warning about what the Desantisappointed supervisors who now oversee Disney World’s vast Florida holdings might try to achieve in an evolving showdown between the governor and Disney:
“Nothing point.”
Among the changes board members made Wednesday were eliminating a planning agency and making the board responsible for future planning. They also said that in the future, they might consider acquiring more land under eminent domain, monetizing the district’s assets to pay off
is off the table at this
debt, banning COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates, asserting the board’s “superior authority” over the district and exploring new zoning for the construction of affordable housing for Disney workers on Disney World property.
Disney World required masks and had social distancing protocols in place in 2020 when it reopened after closing for several months in an effort to stop COVID-19’S spread. Desantis has been a fierce opponent of virus mask and vaccine mandates and has petitioned the state Supreme Court to convene a grand jury to investigate “any and all wrongdoing” with respect to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Disney last year also announced plans to donate almost 80 acres for the construction of 1,300 affordable housing units by a third-party developer.
Wednesday’s meeting continued a battle pitting prospective presidential candidate Desantis and Republican state lawmakers against Disney that started last year when the entertainment giant publicly opposed what critics call the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation barring school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
In retaliation, Florida lawmakers passed, and Desantis signed, legislation reorganizing Disney World’s company-controlled government, allowing the governor to appoint the five members of the Board of Supervisors. Disney previously had controlled the board for its 55-year existence.
Last month, the new Desantisappointees claimed their Disneycontrolled predecessors pulled a fast one by stripping the new board of most powers and giving Disney control over design and construction at the theme park resort before the new members could take their seats.
Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier this month said that any actions against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort was not only “antibusiness” but “anti-florida.”
The new supervisors have hired a team of high-powered lawyers that includes a former Florida Supreme Court justice to possibly challenge the agreements between Disney and the old board. At Wednesday’s meeting, the attorneys outlined their arguments for why the deals were illegal, claiming they weren’t properly noticed and were self-dealing. They also said a district can’t confer governmental powers to a private entity.
“Disney engaged in a caper worthy of Scrooge Mcduck,” said David Thompson, one of the attorneys.