Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked board to oversee Disney’s tax district “weaponized” a new special magistrate who could impose $500 fines — and even shut down rides — for code violations at its theme parks, according to a published report.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District named longtime DeSantis ally Glen Gilzean to the newly created role of administrator to oversee the scrapped Reedy Creek tax district, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Wednesday.
The board also unanimously voted to adopt a code enforcement program and to hire new enforcement officers who will answer to Gilzean. Any attractions that violate the as-yet-to-be-determined codes will be subject to fines of up to $500 a day, according to the publication.
Gilzean reportedly will also have the “pretty awesome powers” to shut rides in violation of the unspecified code at the Disney World parks in Orlando, which include Magic Kingdom and Epcot, the outlet reported.
The strong-arm move comes amid the escalating legal battle between DeSantis and Disney — and as Mouse House boss Bob Iger called out the Republican governor for playing politics over the special district.
The two sides have filed suits and countersuits against each other after DeSantis stripped Disney of its special district status earlier this year — following the company’s opposition to the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
“This is about one thing and one thing only: them retaliating against us,” Iger said during a call with investors after Disney reported second-quarter earnings in line with Wall Street estimates Wednesday.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, pay more taxes or not?”
Rick Foglesong, a Walt Disney World historian, said Disney has a lot to fear from the newly created position.
“You’d think [Disney] would see a threat here,” Foglesong, the author of “Married to the Mouse,” told the Sentinel.
Gilzean, the former president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, will receive a starting salary of $400,000 and will be the state’s point person in the lawsuit filed by Disney against the new district. DeSantis had previously appointed Gilzean as Chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics and to serve on the Re-Open Florida Task Force.
“Our new administrator can plan on being a defendant in a lawsuit,” board Chair Martin Garcia told the Sentinel. “And it’s always challenging to recruit someone to a job and saying the first day, there’s going to be a process server coming down the sidewalk that’s probably going to serve you with a federal lawsuit.”
The Post has reached out to Gilzean for comment.
Disney expanded its legal offensive against DeSantis on Monday after the Republican governor signed legislation voiding the House of Mouse’s last-ditch attempt to dismantle the oversight board filled with his appointed officials.
The amended lawsuit also referenced the state’s effort to take more control over the 27,000-acre park’s monorail system — but it’s just the latest in the feud between Disney and DeSantis.
The latest face-off between Disney and DeSantis began when Disney filed an initial claim against DeSantis in Tallahassee federal court in April.
In the suit, Disney said it opposed a bill banning school instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through the fourth grade. DeSantis previously asserted the material as inappropriate for young children.
The governor went on to fire members of The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board — which oversees Disney’s special tax district — in an effort to dilute Disney’s quasi-government authority as Florida’s largest employer. The sacked workers were replaced by DeSantis’s political allies.
However, outgoing board members didn’t back down and tried to quietly take back power by passing a restrictive development agreement just before the change of hands. When DeSantis realized his new oversight board was rendered powerless, he cracked down and voided the action.
Disney then filed a federal suit, arguing the governor attacked the company in “a clear case of retaliation” that started with what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
“There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so,” Disney’s suit contends.
The company has also claimed DeSantis wrongly singled it out in order to burnish his culture war credentials ahead of his presumptive run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
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