"Collusive and Self-Dealing" — DeSantis Orders Investigation Into Disney's Reedy Creek District

The Reedy Creek Improvement District drama continues.

Recently, the newly DeSantis-appointed Board of Supervisors for the District — which has been renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — discovered an agreement that had been entered into between Disney and the previous Board. Some members of the new Board have indicated that the agreement strips them of most powers and have threatened legal action against Disney. Florida Governor DeSantis has also indicated that they’d be looking into the issue. And now DeSantis has taken things a step further.

According to Scott Gustin (via Twitter), DeSantis has ordered (his note uses the language “formally request”) Melinda Miguel, Chief Inspector General at the Executive Office of the Governor to look into the issue.

In a letter, DeSantis indicated that “immediately before the enactment of House Bill 9-B, the RCID Board of Supervisors attempted to enter into last-minute development and restrictive covenant agreements” with Disney “designed to usurp the authority of the CFTOD Board.”

DeSantis goes on to say that the agreements are “collusive and self-dealing” and “undercut Florida’s legislative process, and defy the will of Floridians.”

He insists that an initial view of counsel indicates that the “RCID board’s actions appear to suffer from serious legal infirmities, including, among other things, inadequate notice, lack of consideration, improper delegation of authority, and ethical violations, such as conflicts of interest and self-dealing.”

He has formally requested that the Chief Inspector General (in consultation with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) launch a review into the matter and analyze the RCID’s adherence to civil and criminal laws, the qualifications of the prior Board, the involvement of any Disney employees in the RCID’s actions, all communications related to the RCID’s actions, and more. You can see the full letter below.

Gov. DeSantis is now ordering the Chief Inspector General to investigate any possible "legal or ethical violations" by the previous Reedy Creek board. Reminder: The agreements were all discussed in public meetings BEFORE the Florida House voted to put the governor in charge. pic.twitter.com/Ef37aIQC6H

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 3, 2023

Disney, however, had stood by their actions. In a statement previously released, Disney said “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.”

If you visit the District’s Board of Supervisors website, you can see agendas and minutes from the previous Board’s meetings. In the agenda for the February 8th meeting (which is where the agreement at issue was signed), there are documents showing that the meeting was noticed in the Orlando Sentinel.

The minutes from the meeting indicate that there was a public hearing on the Developer’s Agreement between the Board and Disney and that this was the “final reading.” The minutes state, “This is the second of two public hearings required to approve the development agreement. This meeting was properly noticed.”

There were no public comments and then the Board unanimously approved the agreement.

A declaration of restrictive covenants was also discussed and approved at the meeting. The minutes note, “The Declaration is associated with the Chapter 163 Developer’s Agreement, which provides certainty regarding future development to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. (WDPR) and is consistent with RCID’s 2032 Comprehensive Plan…the Declaration is associated with the Chapter 163 Developer’s Agreement that the Board just approved and is consistent with the RCID 2032 Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Board in January.”

The minutes also point out how the Declaration is consistent with the Board’s planning powers. Again, there were no public comments and the Board unanimously approved the request.

It seems DeSantis’ actions are just the latest in those being made to escalate the situation and see what legal action may come of it. We’ll continue to watch for updates and let you know what we find.

For more Reedy Creek stories, see our posts below.