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Credit: Inside the MagicA Florida senator is demanding that Governor Ron DeSantis appoint an official to his Disney district board of supervisors who actually lives in Orange County and is familiar with the area.
The tale of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) board of supervisors has gotten progressively stranger and more controversial since Governor DeSantis appointed it last year following the dissolution of the decades-old Reedy Creek Improvement District. As we have extensively reported, Reedy Creek was shut down in alleged political retaliation against the Walt Disney Company after former CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education Act, a key element of the far-right politician’s battle against “woke” agendas.
Since then, there have been multiple lawsuits between DeSantis, the CFTOD board, and Disney, with the most notable being recently dismissed by U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in a much-needed victory for the former presidential candidate. That decision is currently being appealed.
Related: Ron DeSantis Says He and Disney Are Done Fighting
In addition to all of the legal action between Governor DeSantis and Disney, there have been increasingly bizarre accusations against both Walt Disney World and the CFTOD board. At one point, the board commissioned a $360,000 report to accuse Disney of mishandling money, while its own members are currently either part of a national sex scandal, accused of inside-dealing with contractors (after DeSantis claimed he had done away with no-bid contracts, no less) and forced to step down from the Florida Commission on Ethics…due to ethical conflicts of interest.
The latter case involved Glen Gilzean, whom DeSantis initially hand-picked to lead the CFTOD board. However, Gilzean has now stepped down from yet another position, this time to serve as Orange County Elections Supervisor, an area of Central Florida known for its strong ties to the Democratic Party. This has left a vacancy on the CFTOD board and four-term Senator Linda Stewart (D) is quite firm that it needs to be filled by someone who actually lives in the area, as opposed to a DeSantis appointee being shuttled in from another county.
In a letter to Governor DeSantis, Senator Stewart wrote that she has “encouraged the appointment of a central Florida elected to one of the positions of the CFTOD board. It is critical that an elected official from Orange County, who understands local government and creating a balanced budget, is appointed to the CFTOD board.”
Stewart has been a very vocal critic of the CFTOD, sponsoring a bill to have the new district shut down and Reedy Creek reinstated. It was initially unsuccessful, but it is now waiting on a vote in the state Senate; the GOP-supermajority legislature will almost certainly shoot it down.
The Senator’s letter continued, clarifying that the CFTOD board had almost no Orange County representation: “Unlike other special districts created in the state, the CFTOD board lacks any elected representation of the residents or taxpayers. Only one of the five appointed Board Members is from Orange County and the others reside in Tampa, Sarasota and Clearwater.”
Related: The Disney vs. DeSantis Battle Far From Over as Entire District Board Summoned for Testimonials
Her letter also pointed out that the CFTOD’s new policies and management of the tax district had caused dozens of longtime employees to abruptly quit and claimed that “morale” had been crushed.”
Governor DeSantis has not yet responded to Stewart’s letter, but it is unlikely that he would take the senator’s demand into strong consideration. During his terms as the chief executive of Florida, he has frequently used political appointments as both a reward for partisan loyalty and to further his anti-DEI ambitions.
The full text of Senator Stewart’s letter can be read below:
Inside the Magic reached out to the CFTOD board of supervisors for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
Do you think a district board should include members of its own community? Tell us in the comments below!