Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill this morning renaming the “Reedy Creek Improvement District” to the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District” and appointing the new board which will manage it.
If Disney CEO Bob Iger thought that this would all quietly go away, the choice of board members was likely a rude awakening for him as they, in a significant way, represent a direct rebuke of Former CEO Bob Chapek’s statements opposing Florida’s “Parents Rights in Education” bill, more commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The five board members named by Governor DeSantis are Bridget Ziegler (“Parents Rights in Education”/“Don’t Say Gay” Bill co-author, Sarasota school board member, founding member of “Moms for Liberty.” Ziegler’s husband is the chair for the Florida Republican Party who will oversee the 2024 elections), Ron Peri (Chairman and CEO of “The Gathering USA,” a right-wing religious organization), Martin Garcia (an attorney whose private investment firm donated $50,000 to Governor DeSantis’ re-election bid), Brian Aungst Jr. (a prominent Pinellas County Republican attorney who DeSantis had previously appointed to the 6th circuit judicial nominating commission. His father was a former mayor of Clearwater, Florida), and Mike Sasso (Winter Park attorney who DeSantis has previously appointed to several boards).
The new legislation removed parts of the Reedy Creek’s power, including the ability to build a nuclear power plant and an airport. Disney never considered building either.
Disney hasn’t released a statement on DeSantis’ board appointees. The new board will have its first meeting next week.
The Walt Disney Company previously claimed that they would not oppose the restructuring imposed by this new law, but one would suspect that the makeup of the new board would give them pause to reconsider.
Some representatives are worried that the new board will unfairly punish Disney. Rep. Rita Harris pondered Disney’s recent decision to retheme Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. “What if the governor didn’t like that?” Harris said in a statement. “Would the board be able to push the company into changing their business model?”
Rep. Anna Eskamani (District 42) responded to the signing of the bill with a statement saying:
“As we’ve seen via the House Floor, from my Q&A, and from the bill itself Reedy Creek was not dissolved. All this bill does is rename Reedy Creek and allow Governor DeSantis to appoint hostile conservative cronies to a new board. Disney still maintains the same tax breaks — but their First Amendment rights have been suppressed, and it sends a message to any private individual or company that if you don’t purport to what the Governor wants, then you’ll be punished.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged that DeSantis move with Reedy Creek, “beyond the scope of what I as a conservative, limited government Republican would be prepared to do.” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu also disagreed with the move saying that penalizing businesses for political beliefs sets “the worst precedent in the world.”
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for Boardwalk Times
