News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

[JoeCamel]

Members of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight board are vowing to tackle affordable housing and traffic issues they say their Disney-controlled predecessors ignored.

That was one of the takeaways Wednesday from a scathing report that blasted Disney’s decades-long control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, calling it the “most egregious exhibition of corporate cronyism in modern American history.”

“The Reedy Creek Act was a Pandora’s box, a curse disguised in the form of a beautiful gift,” Chairman Martin Garcia said at a board meeting Wednesday. “Now that the truth is out, Florida lawmakers and government officials should expel the curse with more reforms to the district.”

Garcia did not list specific policy proposals but mentioned he wants to address transportation and affordable housing needs that should be “welcomed on a bipartisan basis.”

And the work might not be limited to the 39-square mile district that includes Disney World. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s new legislative act allows for the board to invest in projects elsewhere in the Orlando area, board member Brian Aungst Jr. said.

“It is entirely possible, entirely feasible for the district to provide incentives for affordable housing developments and public transportation that are even not within the district,” he said.

One potential project cited during the meeting is a pedestrian bridge for Shades of Green, a hotel for military personnel, that one of the board’s hired lawyers says was blocked by Disney. That bridge would make it easier for guests at Shades of Green to get to the Magic Kingdom.

DeSantis replaced the Disney-aligned board with five Republican allies in February, upending an arrangement that allowed Disney to effectively self-govern its Central Florida properties since 1967.

Disney called the new district’s review of Reedy Creek “revisionist history” and “neither objective nor credible.”
Last month, it released its own study highlighting its contributions to Florida’s economy. The Disney-commissioned study conducted by Oxford Economics found the corporation has a statewide $40.3 billion economic impact and generates $3.1 billion annually in state and local taxes.

In 2022, Disney announced it would build about 1,300 affordable housing units near its theme parks. Company officials said earlier this year the first apartments will be available in 2026.

The meeting came as one of DeSantis’ hand-picked board members Bridget Ziegler was under fire after a woman made a sexual battery accusation against her husband Christian Ziegler, who chairs the Republican Party of Florida.
Bridget Ziegler told police she was involved in a one-time consensual sexual encounter with her husband and the woman about a year ago, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Christian Ziegler has not been charged with a crime. DeSantis and other prominent Republicans have called on him to resign his post.

One public speaker, Debie McDonald, called on Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the conservative education group Moms for Liberty, to step down from the Disney oversight board. Critics have accused the Zieglers of hypocrisy, saying they have publicly fought against LGBTQ+ rights.

Ziegler attended Wednesday’s meeting remotely and did not address the accusations. Garcia, the board’s chairman, declined to answer questions after the meeting.

District spokesman Matthew Oberly said the district has not received any correspondence from Ziegler regarding changes to her status on the board.

At the meeting, the board heard presentations from experts it hired to compile the Reedy Creek review.
David Thompson, an attorney with the firm Cooper & Kirk, said during his presentation Disney was able to evade “hundreds of millions of dollars” in impact fees over the years because of Reedy Creek.

Those impact fees paid by developers could have been used to address transportation needs, he said.
“The bottom line is Disney put forth a fairy tale in which the prior governance structure was a model of good governance, but the audit shows that the exact opposite is true,” Thompson said.

I finally realized what Garcia's and the report's wording reminds me of, have you ever seen or heard a criminal prosecutor's opening statement to a jury? Not on TV but in real life they try to paint a picture of the most egregious crimes against humanity and often use metaphors that general society shares as repugnant such as comparing the defendant to spoiled food or the bottom of the barrel. This is so over the top in hyperbole that it becomes comical, the message is lost in the messaging.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And the very fact the Universal is forced to go through a burdensome public process while Disney is not is a cause for alarm. That is anticompetitive.

Universal does not go through a public development review process either in Orlando for the North Campus or in Orange County for the new South Campus. Heck, even out in California much of the Disneyland Resort doesn’t go through public review.

The unique capabilities of the RCID that separate it from their competitors and make it unusual lie pretty much entirely in the powers that were not executed: build a nuclear power plant, have a police force, etc.

The ability to build a nuclear power plant was not unique. Nuclear power is legal in Florida and every electric utility was able to utilize it. CFTOD is now unique in that it is an electric utility prohibited from utilizing nuclear power generation.

The police powers really sit with the cities.

 

[Prince-1]

I posted the Daily Wire one as a joke, because we all know they are biased to the right.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

We’re all aware of Married to the Mouse.

The bond issue had nothing to do with the setup of Reedy Creek Improvement District. That was entirely on the state because that’s how the state chose to handle bonds at the time. Being able to issue bonds is also not a unique power.

Garages are often considered part of roads and transportation so that too would not be a unique power.

Trying to prevent access to Bonnet Creek was based more around Disney’s ownership. The District didn’t really make that boneheaded attempt more likely as right of access is rather well established in common law.

Disney has paid significantly more in property taxes than they ever would have paid in impact fees. The scale of difference is not even comparable. Disney would have to build hundreds of thousands of new square feet every year to even get close.

So what you’re really talking about is prohibiting Disney from utilizing tools and powers offered to other large land owners.

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

The grievances of those surrounding the Improvement District should not be dismissed as mere entertainment. And yes, by deciding who is in place and the policies, Disney very much does run things. If they want a zoning change, Disney gets a zoning change. If they want roads moved, they get roads moved. If they want garages built without additional taxes being paid they get a garage built.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

Who would be the voters? Who has the say of how “public” funds are spent when almost 90% of the funds comes from TWDC. The majority of the district is Disney owned land, the district itself has very little, most is owned by Disney and affiliated companies.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

The issues you have mentioned are all related to powers offered to a bog standard community development district. They are powers offered to anyone. Saying they should not be offered to Disney means you are preventing Disney from having access to powers offered to everyone else.

 

[peter11435]

One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

:

Why should voters outside the district, who do not pay taxes to the district have any say in how RCID is developed and its funds are spent. The district isn’t spending public funds that were sourced from anyone outside the district.

I don’t have much say in how my neighboring cities, counties, or states are developed or how they spend their tax dollars. And neither do you. What you’re proposing is absurd.

For the first 5 decades RCID was the literal definition of representative government. The problem is that you seem to misunderstand who the district represents.

 

[flyakite]

Orlando Sentinel:

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK LEGISLATION RELATING TO THE REPEAL OF THE CENTRAL
FLORID TOURISM OVERSIGHT DISTRICT
Notice is hereby given of intent to apply to the Florida Legislature, in the 2024 regular session, for passage an act relating to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, Orange and Osceola Counties; repealing chapter 2023-5, Laws of Florida, which established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District; reviving, reenacting, and readopting chapter 67-764, Laws of Florida, and the decree in chancery No. 66-1061 entered by the Circuit Court in and for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida on May 13, 1966, relating to the Reedy Creek Improvement District; reconstituting the Reedy Creek Improvement District as it existed as of February 26, 2023; terminating the terms of office of the Board of Supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District; providing transitional provisions; providing for construction; providing an effective date.
12/7/2023 7543378

Maybe this is Disney Defenders?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Is it not racist to discriminate on the basis of race? Worse yet, is it appropriate to make selections for vendors based on their race instead of which will offer the highest quality at the lowest price?

Of all the politically-tinged elements of this report, I'm shocked you picked such weak sauce.

There’s a shocking lack of self-awareness, to not only claim that DEI programs are “racist,” but to use this particular meme to try to make that point.

 

[scottieRoss]

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

Now I am really confused. RCID was a representative government. It had voters that made the decisions on who were the board of supervisors. And those voters are not the residents of the Disney trailer parks. The voters were the landowners, just like in many other Florida districts.
And the scope of RCID was not oversight, it was the support of Walt Disney World. They existed to help TWDC to develop their little parcel of land, not to oversee what Disney did with it. And the Board was to be overseen by the landowner, not the citizens of the area outside of the district. Just like the little suburb I live in does not oversee the districts that serve San Antonio or even the municipal electric utility that serves us because it is owned by the city of San Antonio. Why should a citizen that lives by the convention center have any say in what happens down the I-4?

 

[mkt]

I missed it, anyone got a transcript?

Here you go, I transcribed it:

Thank you.

Good morning, my name is Debbie McDonald and I’d like to wish the original employees of Reedy Creek, including the over 50 who have left, a very merry Christmas.

To the board, especially to Mrs. Ziegler who is not present today, I hope 2024 will be a much better year for you.

Free speech is important. Congress will make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or the press, or the right of the people peacefully to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The thing about free speech is we don’t get to choose what we want to accept or what we want to hear. If we chip away at it, it starts to erode, and our democracy is at risk.

There’s many things that we don’t want to hear, um, but it’s important, and we need to respect that we live in a country where we have the right for those things to be said.

Today a member of our board, who is attending virtual perhaps, is a great example of free speech. It is not my place to judge her behavior or that of her husband – they deserve their day in court.

The governor has called on her husband Christian Ziegler to resign his position with the Florida GOP in the wake of serious criminal allegations. Bridget should follow.

The governor has good reason, no matter what the details surrounding this family’s legal troubles, it is a distraction. In her case, it is a distraction from the governance of this board.

Mrs. Ziegler has not made Florida a better place. She is the face of the “Don’t Say Gay” revolution, which brought this board to where it is to this place today and has caused untold harm in our classrooms and in our communities. Many families have left my community of Celebration in fear because they believe the state is persecuting them and their children. Teachers have lost their jobs over these policies. Her role in demonizing the LGBTQ community is hurting the state, while she apparently been a part of the letter ‘B’ in that group.

This is hypocrisy at its finest.

Bridget, you need to do what is best for the greater good. We live in a free Florida, not an autocratic pseudo-Christian dictatorship.

What Mrs. Ziegler does privately, with other consenting adults is no more our business than it is the behavior of the other consenting adults she pretends to find abhorrent. It is the rank hypocrisy of attacking others for what she personally practices that should disqualify her for position of public trust.

Thank you.

 

[Twirlnhurl]

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

The greater community already has that with the government of Orange County. RCID was created as a way to provide additional services to Disney on top of Orange County's services in exchange for higher tax rates. I don't think that is an unreasonable arrangement for the broader community.
Just because Disney has lots of money doesn't mean they owe it to their neighbors.

 

[mkt]

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

Suggestion:

A 7 member board.

Disney gets 4 seats, 1 is elected by the people of Orange County, 1 is elected by the people of Osceola County, and the final one is appointed by the governor.

 

[JKick95]

Suggestion:

A 7 member board.

Disney gets 4 seats, 1 is elected by the people of Orange County, 1 is elected by the people of Osceola County, and the final one is appointed by the governor.

This is what I think should happen. Maybe give the other businesses in the district a seat as well.

 

[Figgy1]

Yes, I want Disney to be deprived of equal rights under the law. I want them to be permanently hamstrung.

Or maybe I would prefer an RCID with a narrowed scope and greater oversight by the local community. One where voters (you know actual voters and not cast members living Disney's corporate trailer park) have a greater say over how the RCID is developed and public funds are spent. At least the pretense of some representative government.

To once again quote you:

You probably would have liked the original legislation where the district would have been dissolved. That didn't wind up happening because of the increases in property taxes that would have wound up happening partially due to the bond payments, partially because the counties would have had to take over the services.
Do you have a problem with Universal's new district? The one covering Daytona Speedway?

 

[Marionnette]

Suggestion:

A 7 member board.

Disney gets 4 seats, 1 is elected by the people of Orange County, 1 is elected by the people of Osceola County, and the final one is appointed by the governor.

Disney should not get any seats, especially not a controlling majority of the seats. Disney is a business. Businesses should not have representation on a governing board that determines where taxpayer funds are spent.

 

[Nevermore525]

Disney should not get any seats, especially not a controlling majority of the seats. Disney is a business. Businesses should not have representation on a governing board that determines where taxpayer funds are spent.

Disney accounts for 80-90% of the taxpayer funds in the district.

When the board says tax payers, they are primarily talking about and avoiding saying “Disney”.

 

[mkt]

Disney should not get any seats, especially not a controlling majority of the seats. Disney is a business. Businesses should not have representation on a governing board that determines where taxpayer funds are spent.

They are responsible for 80-90% of those taxpayer funds, but would get less than 60% of the seats.

Sounds like a solid tradeoff to me.

 

[mkt]

This is what I think should happen. Maybe give the other businesses in the district a seat as well.

Fair.

7 seats.

3x "Residents" (ie Disney)
1x non-Disney businesses
1x Orange County - elected
1x Osceola County - elected
1x Governor's appointee.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Disney should not get any seats, especially not a controlling majority of the seats. Disney is a business. Businesses should not have representation on a governing board that determines where taxpayer funds are spent.

I don’t think you understand how the District works, the taxes they are spending is almost 90% paid by Disney, the remaining 10% by other land owners in the district. The residents of orange and Osceola counties are paying $0 to the District.