Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has today instructed the Chief Inspector General of the State of Florida to investigate the Reedy Creek Improvement District following the latest developments regarding the state's takeover of the district.
In a move that seems to have out-smarted the state, Disney's final agreement between Reedy Creek Improvement District and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts appears to have severely handicapped the Ron DeSantis-appointed board of the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight board.
Signed into effect on February 8, just as the Florida House passed the legislation to take control of Reedy Creek Improvement District, the new Developer Agreement gives Disney significant control of the RCID landing and prevents the new board making any changes to the agreement.
At a March 29 special meeting, where the board discussed the new Developer Agreement, one member said, "We lose control over everything other than to maintain the roads and maintain the infrastructure." Board member Brian Aungst said, "We gave governmental control to Disney."
The legal council for the new board said that various agreements were made over the past several months that were "unusual" and "suspect." In a brief statement following the meeting, Disney said, "All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine law."
In a letter today, DeSantis said, "based on initial observations of counsel, the RCID board's actions appear to suffer from serious legal infirmities, including, among other things, inadequate notice, lack of consideration, improper delegation of authority, and ethical violations, such as conflicts of interest and self-dealing.
The move today by DeSantis instructs the Chief Inspector General to investigate:
- RCID's adherence to applicable Florida civil and criminal laws and ethics requirements;
- The qualifications of RCID's prior Board of Supervisors and the legal validity of their actions
- The involvement of Walt Disney World employees and agents in the execution of RCIDs actions
- Any financial gain or benefit derived by Walt Disney World as a result of RCID's actions and RCID's justification for such actions
- All RCID board, employee, or agent communications related to RCID's actions, including those with Walt Disney World employees and agents
- All RCID board, employee, or agent communications related to House Bill 9-B, Reedy Creek Improvement District, Orange, and Osceola Counties, and the CFTOD.
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