DeSantis Appoints New District Administrator With Power Over Disney World

Visitors walk along Main Street at The Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

A supporter of Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been given power to shut down rides and issue fines at Walt Disney World for violating state codes.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District appointed longtime DeSantis ally and nonprofit leader Glen Gilzean to oversee the administration of the Reedy Creek special tax district, where the Walt Disney Company’s theme park properties are located, the Orlando Sentinel reported on May 10.

Gilzean, the former president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, will receive a starting salary of $400,000.

DeSantis had previously appointed Gilzean to be the chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics and to the Re-Open Florida Task Force.

In the past, Disney reserved the right to select the members of the zone’s oversight board to manage it under the old rules, until it was stripped of that power by the Florida legislature by a bill backed by DeSantis.

Unlike its rival parks Universal Studios and SeaWorld, Disney’s special exemptions allowed it to avoid running its plans through state and local zoning commissions as well as building inspection departments. This allowed it to make its operations run more efficiently, saving it time and money.

DeSantis Appoints Administrator to Oversee Park District

Florida’s governor and a potential Republican candidate for the White House now has the sole ability to appoint his own board members and a top administrator to oversee Disney’s special tax district.

As the newly appointed administrator, Gilzean will oversee Disney’s government, while the board considers additional taxes, public transit improvements, and other projects.

Gilzean will also have the right to impose $500 fines and shut down rides for soon-to-be created code violations at the entertainment company’s theme parks in Orlando, including Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

He will also receive a $400,000 starting salary for the position, $45,000 more than his predecessor, John Classe.

The five members of the board who DeSantis appointed in March, on the other hand, will remain unpaid.

Classe, who was the former administrator of the Reedy Creek District from 2016 until his replacement, will be retained as a special advisor to help with the transition and will keep his $355,000 salary.

Gilzean is also expected to be the state’s point man in the lawsuit filed by Disney against the new district.

The new board also unanimously voted to adopt a code enforcement program and to hire new enforcement officers who will answer to Gilzean.

Gilzean reportedly will also have the “pretty awesome powers” to shut rides in violation of the unspecified code at the Disney World parks.

“Our new administrator can plan on being a defendant in a lawsuit,” board member Martin Garcia told the Orlando Sentinel.

“And it’s always challenging to recruit someone to a job and saying the first day, there’s going to be a process server coming down the sidewalk that’s probably going to serve you with a federal lawsuit.”

Battle Continues Between Florida GOP and Disney Over New Board

The feud between Disney and DeSantis began after the family entertainment company publicly opposed the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law last year, which prevented schools from teaching LGTB information to children.

The state’s legislation banned schools from promoting lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

DeSantis and the Republican-held legislature retaliated against Disney in April 2022 by stripping from its theme park district the special privileges that it held since 1967, sparking a legal battle.

The loss of those special tax and regulatory privileges would cost Disney billions of dollars.

To subvert DeSantis, Disney quietly made a deal with the previous district’s board, just as they were sacked, which would allow the theme park and resort to maintain control of its land virtually in perpetuity.

After Disney attempted to use a loophole to retain power, the governor doubled down and passed measures in the legislature that imposed new inspections on the park’s monorail system and rides.

The DeSantis-backed board then voted to void that action, leading to Disney’s federal suit.

After he discovered that his new oversight board was rendered powerless, DeSantis quickly signed legislation voiding the company’s last-ditch attempt to dismantle his board filled with his own appointed officials.

Disney filed an initial claim against DeSantis and his handpicked board on April 26, in Tallahassee federal court, to reestablish control over its Orlando theme park.

The suit alleges that DeSantis and his office had engaged in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” against Disney that was “orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech.”

The new board responded by unanimously voting, on May 1, to file a countersuit against the media giant.

Disney then amended its suit on May 8 to halt further state attempts to seize control over the 27,000-acre theme park and also the threats to its monorail system.

Iger Calls Out DeSantis’ Presidential Ambitions

The entertainment company also claimed DeSantis singled it out in order to burnish his credentials ahead of his presumptive run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the state for doing so,” contended Disney in its court filings.

The entertainment company’s quasi-government authority as Florida’s largest employer still gives it much weight in the Sunshine State.

Disney CEO Bob Iger called out DeSantis for playing politics over the special district.

“This is about one thing and one thing only: them retaliating against us,” Iger said in a call with investors, after Disney reported second-quarter earnings losses in line with Wall Street estimates, on May 10.

“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, pay more taxes or not?”

Gilzean struck an optimistic and collaborative tone at his first board meeting on May 10, stating he wants to make the district “a much better place,” reported the Orlando Sentinel.

One of his first tasks his new role is the prospect of building affordable housing for Disney workers.

“We all want our businesses, both big and small, to thrive,” said Gilzean.

“But this cannot be done by fighting endless battles in the courts. It can only be achieved by collaborating in earnest to make this district a world-class model of public-private partnership.”