DeSantis-Appointed Reedy Creek Board Votes to Make MORE Changes in the Disney District

Get ready folks. If you thought the Reedy Creek Improvement District drama was over, you’d be WRONG.

In terms of the latest updates on this saga, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis and the new board of the District (which is now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board). The board later filed a lawsuit of their own (in state court) against Disney, and DeSantis has signed a bill into law that voids a key agreement Disney entered into with the old board. Now, the new board has met and taken their next steps — here’s what’s going on.

On May 10th, the new board of supervisors met to discuss a variety of matters. Here are some of the key things they discussed.

Utility Rates

One big thing the board had previously alleged is that there was a utility agreement entered into by Disney and the prior board that was another “11th-hour” agreement. This agreement reportedly has given Disney the ability to set its own utility rates.

In an earlier meeting, the Board agreed to bring in an advisor to evaluate the situation and look at the utility rates within the District. It seems the Board is now officially taking action on utility rates in general and have agreed to retain a firm called Raftelis as their utility rate consultant.

At the May 10th meeting, it was discussed that the rate consultant would advise the District on power purchase agreements and this was described as an “example” of how the current Board is functioning differently than the old Board. The Board noted that by approving this arrangement, they’re acting more as an “independent government agency” and not favoring one taxpayer over another (seemingly indicating that the prior board served at the will of Disney and thus favored Disney over other taxpayers in the area).

District Board Chair Martin Garcia shared that the “mission of this Board is to do more for more people,” and protect ALL taxpayers in the District.

After some more comments, the Board’s motion to hire the rate consultant was approved unanimously. We’ll have to see how this potentially impacts utility rates in the District in the future.

DeSantis-Linked Individual Gets Reedy Creek Position

In terms of other updates, the former District Administrator — John Classe — will be transitioning to an alternative role on May 11th where he’ll be “Special Advisor to the Board.”

He’ll report to the board or District Administrator to provide assistance on various matters. The Board spoke highly of Mr. Classe and indicated that they looked forward to working with him in his new position.

The Board has also agreed to employ Glenton Gilzean, Jr. as the new District Administrator. Gilzean served as a school board member in Pinellas County, was a CEO in Central Florida, and has been a resident of Orlando for the past 7 years. The Board described him as a “wise and competent businessman.”

Gilzean also has some ties to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he is “a supporter of Gov. DeSantis, who has appointed him to several other positions, including the Florida Commission on Ethics,” according to WESH.

In his role as District Administrator, Gilzean will earn a salary of $400,000 per year. The Board defended this number by saying that they looked at other special districts paying for similar positions, the geographic size of the District, and more to determine a fair number and they feel this is reasonable.

The Board also emphasized that they want to be a “good neighbor” to Osceola and Orange County and will be looking to take a different position on the lawsuits Disney has filed regarding property tax valuations.

After some other introductions, Gilzean spoke. He addressed the controversy between the Board and Disney by saying that it will be his job to take the District and turn the entire region into a better place. He shared that in his view, the people at the heart of this matter are the constituents, including District employees, Disney employees, small business owners, and the tourists who visit Disney World each year.

He noted that the new Board can now act with a greater sense of independence. He also mentioned that one of his goals is to hire an independent urban planner to see how the District can create more affordable workforce housing. According to Gilzean, many employees in the District live at or below the poverty line so he wants to look into affordable housing along with a fiscal impact study.

Gilzean shared that Walt Disney’s goal was to create a city of tomorrow, and the goal of the Board would be to do the same, but it cannot be done while “fighting endless battles in court” (this appears to be a reference to the ongoing federal lawsuit from Disney, which the Board has seemingly responded to with a state court lawsuit of their own).

Now that Gilzean is officially part of the team, we’ll have to see just what changes he makes in the future.

Lobbyists

One of the other matters the board discussed was a resolution (No. 641) about lobbyist rules. Specifically, the resolution is meant to provide a “uniform policy for monitoring and regulation” of lobbyist activities within the district.

Under this policy, lobbyists would have to register with the District and there would be a specific blackout period for some lobbying activities. The Board clarified that a lobbyist would be someone who gets compensated to try and effect an outcome. The term and these restrictions would NOT apply to union members, small business owners in the District who want to talk to the board about change, and certain others.

They made a point to emphasize that, in their view, the regulation does NOT make the Board inaccessible, but rather sets forth rules so the public can see who is trying to effectuate change in the District. That resolution was passed unanimously.

Fire Prevention Code

The work didn’t stop there. The board also considered Resolution No. 643 to adopt the Florida Fire Prevention Code and enable the District Fire Marshall to establish policies on the enforcement of the code (and fines for violations of the code). The resolution also addresses regulations for false alarms.

They described this resolution as basically giving them tools to use in terms of enforcement criteria, appeals, and more. They noted that this will only enhance the District’s excellent fire safety record and is a matter of “best policy and practice.” The motion related to this resolution was passed unanimously.

Rule Enforcement

Another resolution they considered (No. 642) would change other enforcement rules. Specifically, the board has alleged that the “District currently lacks code enforcement procedures and mechanisms” to enforce the rules, regulations, and resolutions of the District.

So this resolution would create an “enforcement citation program,” and establishes that those who violate a regulation or resolution of the District would be subject to certain fines, liens, and (if needed) foreclosures on liens. According to Variety, those who violate District regulations could get fined up to $500 per infraction per day (the maximum allowed by state law).

It also provides a way to designate “code enforcement officers,” and sets up the position of a special magistrate for any appeals of citations.

Basically, the board is laying out just how to enforce its regulations, what happens to those who violate them, and what the options are if people want to challenge those reported violations.

They described this as providing them with another “tool” in their toolbox when it comes to enforcement and shared that it might not be used in every case. The motion to approve this resolution was also passed.

Variety points out that while the regulation seems “innocuous enough,” it must be viewed in the context of the ongoing battles between the Board and Disney. Richard Foglesong, the author of “Married to the Mouse,” said, “What this does is to subordinate the property owner, a.k.a. Disney, to the board and to the enforcement officers and to that special magistrate.”

Foglesong acknowledged that the old system might have been too lenient but the new code enforcement system could be “weaponized” and used against Disney in matters not related to building or safety codes.

He said, “This potentially gives that board some teeth and some ways to leverage Disney if there aren’t protections in the law that would safeguard Disney from something like that.”

Those are all the updates on the District for now, but we expect more news will be on the way soon. The board will hold its next meeting on May 24th, so we’ll be on the lookout and let you know what we see as that date approaches.

For more Reedy Creek news, see the posts below, and check back for the latest updates.

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