Disney took power from the old board before the state takeover

The Five Years of Disney World: Donald DeSantis’s Last Ditch During the Development of the Orlando Resort and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World said Wednesday that their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers.

The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight district told a meeting that their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with Disney that gave the company a lot of power over the theme park resort in central Florida.

The five supervisors were appointed by the Republican governor to the board after the Florida Legislature overhauled Disney’s government in retaliation for the entertainment giant publicly opposing so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation that bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as lessons deemed not age-appropriate.

The controversy is central to the political narrative of a leader who is unafraid to fight corporate giants even if it means losing their business in Florida. He frequently shares it at events across the country as he lays groundwork for a possible national campaign and in his new book, it is a story that is featured prominently.

“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,” Fenkse said. The agreements may have legal infirmities that would make them void, according to an initial review.

“We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it,” board member Brian Aungst said Wednesday. The will of the voters and the Legislature has been subverted. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”

“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,” the company said. The law requires that it be noticed in the paper of record for the February 8 meeting.

Five years ago, Disney became the first major employer in central Florida to agree to a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an hour.

The agreement covers around 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park resort, including costumed performers who perform as Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, bus drivers, culinary workers, lifeguards, theatrical workers and hotel housekeepers.

If the five-year contract is approved workers could see their hourly wages rise to at least $8.60 by the end of the contract.

The Disney Foundation for the First 21 Years: A State of the Art and Donald Trump’s Implications for the Board and the State of Florida Law

The board retained multiple financial and legal firms on Wednesday to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior. The board entered into agreements with a number of firms to provide counsel.

“The lack of consideration, the delegation of legislative authority to a private corporation, restriction of the Board’s ability to make legislative decisions, and giving away public rights without compensation for a private purpose, among other issues, warrant the new Board’s actions and direction to evaluate these overreaching documents and determine how best the new Board can protect the public’s interest in compliance with Florida Law,” the statement from Fishback Dominick LLP, Cooper & Kirk PLLC, Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, Waugh Grant PLLC and Nardella & Nardella PLLC said.

DeSantis stacked the board with political allies, including Tampa lawyer Martin Garcia, a prominent GOP donor; Bridget Ziegler, the wife of the new chairman of the Republican Party of Florida; and Peri, a former pastor who once suggested tap water could be making people gay.

The bill gave him control of the Reedy Creek board and he said at the signing ceremony that the corporate kingdom was finally coming to an end.

However, it may be a while before the new power structure has control, if Disney gets its way. The deal that restricts the new board from using any Disney characters is valid until 21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England.

The stealth move by Disney prompted allies of DeSantis’ chief political rival, former President Donald Trump, to suggest the governor had been out-maneuvered.

“President Trump wrote ‘Art of the Deal’ and brokered Middle East peace,” said Taylor Budowich, spokesman for the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again PAC. Ron DeSantis was out-bargained by Mickey Mouse.