The new Board of Supervisors for Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) is not wasting any time.
via Twitter
The new Board of the modified District has been appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and has already discussed potential changes that could come to the District. Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro, previously noted “If that new board understands the value that gets created here and how it positively impacts the Central Florida community, I think they will be aligned with our vision and will carry on the Reedy Creek soul that’s been in place.” But it seems the new Board may be more focused on fighting Disney and some key agreements made recently.
The new Board of Supervisors in control of the District met for the second time on March 29th, 2023 with several items set aside to be discussed, according to their agenda. One of those (agenda item 8.2) is the desire to obtain special counsel services for the District.
What do they need special legal services for? Well, it seems the Board may be interested in going after some of the old agreements made by the old Board of Supervisors that impact Disney.
©Governor Ron DeSantis Website
The agenda specifically discusses two legal firms that could be used to represent the District regarding “potential legal challenges for matters involving the District that occurred under the prior board of supervisors and that may involve the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiary and related entities.”
©Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
Bob Hazen, a reporter at WESH 2 News has been posting regular updates about the new Board’s meeting via Twitter and documenting just what the Board has been discussing.
It looks like the new Board is really focused on potential legal challenges to the old Board’s agreements with Disney that reportedly give Disney “wide reign over RCID land for the next 30 years.”
It seems the Board is considering
challenging some agreements made with Reedy Creek’s old Board that were approved before this new Board took over. One of those things is the Developer Agreement that “set in stone” Disney’s rights over the next 30 years, regardless of what the new Board says or does.
Essentially, this was, as Hazen calls it,
Disney’s “insurance policy,” giving them a sense of certainty during an uncertain time when the future of the District was very unclear.
Reedy Creek
According to Hazen, the new District Board’s legal counsel said that they recently found out about these agreements even though Hazen points out that the agreements were “approved in public meetings over the past several months.” The legal counsel has called these agreements “unusual” and “suspect.” The new Board’s special counsel has also called the agreements “unlawful.”
Reportedly, John Classe, the administrator who was in the same position when the old Board was in control, was present at the meeting but was not asked about the agreements.
It seems the new Board is pretty serious about challenging some of these agreements. According to Hazen,
Ron Peri, one of the new members, indicated that these agreements have “
stripped the board of almost all its power and
made Disney the government here.” Peri has indicated that he wants the new Board to fight the agreements.
The new Board’s special counsel said that the District should hire more law firms so it could “take on Disney on even footing, using firms with ‘deeper bench.’”
©Spectrum News 13
The new chairman of the Board — Martin Garcia — reportedly discussed “how rich and powerful Disney is” and shared that the District may have to adopt an “adversarial position” against Disney.
Garcia also suggested that they might need to go all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court in “protracted litigation” against Disney.
Disney World
In one Tweet, Hazen indicated that the District would be hiring outside law firms to “wage the fight” against Disney. In another, he said, “Reedy Creek, which used to be controlled by #Disney, now appears to be going to war with it.”
So it seems Disney could be facing a big battle against its new Board soon. We’ll keep an eye out for more updates and let you know what we find.
The post New Reedy Creek Board Discusses Potential LAWSUIT Against Disney first appeared on the disney food blog.
