If you’ve been following the Ron DeSantis and Disney feud, you might be curious to learn some new developments in the governor’s appointed district.
Since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District and created the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) things have gone a bit haywire. We’re talking about some not-so-magical things happening within the district with its employees and board members. So let’s take a look at what’s going on over at the CFTOD.
You have to wonder how well a board is going to work when the private company it governs is saying it was entirely created out of political retaliation and the governor is the one who appointed all of the members. Well, it turns out, it might not be for the best — at least according to employees. The Orlando Sentinel gave some insight into what’s been going on inside the district.
Several days ago, the district granted a $240,000 no-bid contract to current Florida Ethics Commission member, Freddie Figgers, to develop a new system that would improve 911 calls. Within the district’s procurement policy, it states that any contracts over $100,000 should be competitively bid.
After lots of media questions were directed at the ethics and policies of this no-bid contract, Figgers sent a letter to the contract on Monday to cancel his contract and to “err on the side of caution,” saying, “We welcome the opportunity for an open bidding process …”
And now we’ve learned that the chaos isn’t just part of the board’s contract processes, but also that many district employees are up and leaving their jobs due to several reasons including the district being described as “a toxic workplace right now.” More than 3 dozen employees, with a combined total of 350 years of experience, have left.
One former employee said, “With the departure of more than 3 dozen employees, the district is no longer functional.” Another, a former manager with more than 30 years of experience, said the new board members “show a severe lack of trust for employees.”
And others have said they “could care less about the work that needs to be done for the taxpayers.” This might be talking about the several million dollar budget cuts for maintaining the roads around the district among other things.
While the road maintenance budget goes down, the district’s legal fees budget shows that it has gone up from $4.2 million to $11.1 million. Hopefully, a resolution can come soon, as ultimately, the decisions of this board can impact Disney World and the surrounding areas.
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What are your thoughts on the new district? Let us know in the comments!
DeSantis and his puppets are running this area into the ground. It was reported for years how well this area was run with Disney and people elected into office and now these unqualified people who were hand picked by DeSantis is ruining it all. Disney might not be as safe as it once was with them around.
What a mess. It would have been better just to leave things alone. Reedy Creek was doing a great job for its constituents….namely, Disney World guests & employees.