Walt Disney World’s new district government took further action this week to make clear its goal to be free of the Magic Kingdom’s influence in all of its decision-making.
Board members also made clear their intention to insulate against pressure from any other outside influences and personal interests, including those that could come from state officials.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s (CFTOD) Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a “Conflict of Interest Policy” that one board member described as being “even more rigorous than anything you might find required or mandated by the state.”
The policy took effect immediately after the vote during the July 26 meeting. And members indicated it was long overdue.
A sign near an entranceway to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on May 22, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Board vice chairman Charbel Barakat, a corporate lawyer for 20 years, said he was “stunned” that such a policy was not already in place.
The new board, appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and confirmed by the Florida Senate, also discovered some problematic financial arrangements made by their predecessors that channeled millions of district funds exclusively to Disney.
To solidify itself as a truly independent governing board, the group expressed the need to set boundaries and standards of honesty.
“This board is going to be motivated solely by the best interests of the folks in this district and of these people in the state of Florida,“ Mr. Barakat said.
Board chairman Martin Garcia said it doesn’t make sense for Disney to receive special treatment.
“Disney is not the only taxpayer in this district,” he said. “We have other taxpayers.”
Companies other than Disney also conduct business in the district, he noted.
More than 200 third-party companies operate within the district on Disney World property, according to Disney. More than 20 of them are owned by Floridians,
The district also includes luxury homes in the Golden Oaks neighborhood.
For that reason, “we are determined to run an open, honest, efficient, transparent, independent government agency,” Mr. Garcia said.
Disney’s District Then vs. Now
For more than 55 years, a chunk of Central Florida land twice the size of Manhattan Island was controlled and developed almost entirely by the Walt Disney Company. It was called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and within its borders grew the Walt Disney World Resort.
The creation of the district under Gov. Claude R. Kirk Jr. in 1967 freed Disney from having to submit to legislative and utility control of Orange and Osceola counties. It was an effort on Disney’s part to make the development process more efficient. And the state cooperated.
The special Reedy Creek government was overseen by a five-person board of supervisors, intended to be made up of landowners and residents within the district.
As the owner of almost all of the land in the district, Disney selected members of the board and maintained control.
To stay within the rules, Disney granted plots of undeveloped district land to individuals the company wanted on the board, according to Sam Gennawey, author of “Walt and the Promise of Progress City.”
There was an understanding that those board members would return the land once their district board terms ended, Mr. Gennawey said.
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit in Philadelphia, Pa., on June 30, 2023. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Mr. DeSantis brought Disney’s self-governance to an end.
In April 2022, he signed a bill to dissolve the entire district by June 2023.
“We need to make sure that people understand whether you’re an individual or you’re a corporation that you don’t get to play by your own rules,” Mr. DeSantis said in the days leading up to the transformation of the new district.
No More ‘Naughty’ Deals
On Feb. 27, Mr. DeSantis signed legislation that would keep the Reedy Creek Improvement District intact, but transform it into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Mr. DeSantis chose five new board members from around the state to run it. They took control in March, and they now govern the district that includes the Walt Disney World Resort.
They operate as an independent government acting on behalf of the public interest.
Adding a policy to formally outlaw conflicts of interest in their operations was yet another step to ensure good governance of the area, the CFTOD board members said.
During the meeting, board members highlighted instances where their predecessors worked exclusively in Disney’s favor.
Just before the new board took over, Disney made a last-minute development deal with the outgoing Reedy Creek board in February. That deal pre-approved construction projects for the next 30 years. The deal also relinquished control of district utilities to Disney for the next 10 years.
The agreement was voided by the new board and is being challenged in both state and federal court.
An aerial view of Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 8, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In developing the district’s 2024 budget, members of the new board discovered several “naughty things that this old board did with district funds,” Mr. Garcia said.
Specifically, the district was making an annual payout of $8 million “in overtime for law enforcement services provided exclusively on Disney properties,” he said.
“That doesn’t make any sense to me, and it doesn’t make any sense to anybody on our team that’s looked at it.”
Independent of Mouse and State
The new policy will “prohibit any board member from having any interest or engaging in any business or transition or from incurring any obligation, which is in substantial conflict with the board member’s proper discharge of his or her duties in the public interest.”
It also states that “no board member may directly or indirectly be employed by or have an interest, directly or indirectly, in any firm or corporation having any contractual relationship with or rendering for any consideration services to the district.”
Because the new board was appointed by the governor, opponents of the change said they suspected board members would simply do the governor’s bidding.
Not so, says board member Ron Peri, reiterating that the new policy is even stricter than state requirements.
It’s meant, said Mr. Barakat, to “give some great comfort to the people in this district, if they didn’t already have it."
Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, T.J. Muscaro covers the Sunshine State, America's space industry, the theme park industry, and family-related issues.
