DeSantis-appointed Disney district board seeking legal action over agreement stripping its power
Jack Birle
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The newly formed board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), said on Wednesday that the previous board, which was appointed by the Walt Disney Company, made an agreement stripping the new board of any power.
The new board announced it is seeking legal action to restore its governing power over the district, which encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort, by bringing in four outside law firms to void the agreement made under the previous board.
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“We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it,” board member Brian Aungst Jr. said at a press conference Wednesday, per the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s a subversion of the will of the voters and the legislature and the governor. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”
The agreement that went into effect on Feb. 8, the same day the Florida House passed a bill restructuring the previously named Reedy Creek Improvement District, essentially does not permit the board to make most changes without permission from Disney. The agreement also stipulates that it “shall continue until 21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England, living as of the date of this declaration.”
“I cannot tell you the level of my disappointment in Disney. I thought so much better of them. This essentially makes Disney the government,” board member Ron Peri said, per local Orlando television station WKMG. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
Disney had maintained control over the district and its board since its creation in 1967, until last month when DeSantis signed a bill restructuring the district and adding oversight from a state-appointed board, ending what he called a “corporate kingdom.”
The company defended its actions in a statement Wednesday, saying that all signed agreements were “appropriate” and that they were discussed in open forums.
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law,” Disney said in a statement.
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The battle between the governor and the company, which led to Disney’s Central Florida district being restructured, began after the company came out strongly against the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill in March 2022.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DeSantis’s office for comment.