The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District will have a busy meeting on April 19, during which they will discuss their resolution for “Superior Authority” and meet with legal counsel regarding Disney and Reedy Creek Improvement District’s last-minute agreements.

The meeting agenda includes a report from the board’s general counsel and a presentation by the litigation counsel. The board has hired lawyers Cooper & Kirk, whose proposed costs were $795/hour, and Lawson, who was $495/hour. There will also be a presentation by the Public Resources Advisory Group (PRAG) and a presentation regarding state oversight.

New business includes “Direction to District staff and PRAG to cooperate with Inspector General’s investigation.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered Melinda Miguel, Chief Inspector General of the State of Florida, to investigate potential civil and criminal violations of Walt Disney World and the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District Board of Supervisors.

Resolutions No. 638 and No. 639 are on the public hearings portion of the agenda. Resolution No. 638 creates “rules and procedures for the Board of Supervisors and governing procedures, conduct and decorum for meetings of the board; providing for severability, conflicts and an effective date.”

Resolution No. 639 is the one previously reported on that would amend article 6, chapter 6-90 and article 7, chapters 7-20 and 7-30 of the RCID Land Development Regulations. These amendments ensure the new board has authority over the “reviewing, processing, evaluating, commenting on and approving, approving with conditions or denying applications for development orders throughout the District, including within the jurisdictional limits of City of Lake Buena Vista and the City of Bay Lake.”

A second reading and public hearing are set for April 26, 2023. Experts say this resolution may not be effective in taking control from Disney.

Also as previously reported, the Board of Supervisors is planning to replace the current Planning Board. “Remove from office and terminate all Planning and Zoning Board members and appoint the Board of Supervisors to serve as the local planning agency” is on the agenda, assuming Resolution No. 639 will pass. This means the Board of Supervisors would be “the final decision-making authority for the District” and that “no further administrative appeal is available” after the board has made a decision. The members of the Planning Board have term limits of three years, but the Board of Supervisors plans to remove term limits.

Following that agenda item is “Discussion and potential action regarding the selection of an urban planning firm to assist the District in the review and evaluation required by the District’s enabling act.”

Business also includes adding a Fourth Amendment to the Tide Bay Solar Facility PPA and “Board discussion and potential action regarding direction to District staff and legal counsel and priorities of the Board for future agendas.”

Other business is an executive session on union negotiations, which is a closed meeting.

DeSantis v. Disney

While tensions cooled between Governor DeSantis and Disney as last year came to a close, the spark reignited once again earlier this year when Disney passed several laws which restricted the power of his newly-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, designed to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The new board was designed as retaliation for Disney’s outspoken response to a bill last year which restricted educators from teaching any LGBTQ+-related concepts to students.

Though they were publicly available, Reedy Creek and Disney’s final agreements shocked DeSantis and his board, who expressed disbelief at Disney’s actions and retained multiple law firms to fight the agreement in court. DeSantis later ordered a criminal investigation into Disney and the old board.

At the time, the Executive Office of the Governor reached out to WDWNT with this statement from Communications Director Taryn Fenske:

“The Executive Office of the Governor is aware of Disney’s last-ditch efforts to execute contracts just before ratifying the new law that transfers rights and authorities from the former Reedy Creek Improvement District to Disney. An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law. We are pleased the new Governor-appointed board retained multiple financial and legal firms to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior.”

Disney responded with their own statement:

“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida Government in the Sunshine law.”

At Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Bob Iger accused Gov. DeSantis of punishing Disney for exercising their right to free speech. “We love the state of Florida,” he said, citing the company’s various investments in the community over the years and saying he respected and appreciated what the state has done for Disney in the past. “Any action that thwarts these efforts simply to retaliate is anti-business and anti-Florida.”

DeSantis also promised to double down on his efforts to punish Disney through methods both in the Legislature and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board. Notably, he promised to hike Disney’s hotel taxes and institute tolls on the roads around Walt Disney World Resort property now administered by the CFTOB.

In an interview with Time, Iger said, “If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that.”

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