The decision to remove their access to free passes and discounts to the theme park resort has angered employees of Walt Disney World’s governing district, who on Wednesday faced new board members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. They claim this makes visiting the parks prohibitively expensive.
The 56-year-old district, which offers municipal services such as mosquito control, drainage, wastewater treatment, planning, and firefighting to Disney World, heard emotional testimonials from several current and former district firefighters during a monthly board meeting about how the free Disney park passes were a benefit for them and their families and helped them decide to work for the organization.
Firefighter Pete Simon remarked that for some people, losing this benefit eliminates the entire motivation for working at this location.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District claimed earlier this week that the $400 district employees who worked for their Disney-supporting predecessors received $2.5 million in season passes and discounts on hotels, goods, food, and beverages, which amounted to unethical benefits paid for by the district. The district made a complaint about fraud, poor administration, waste, and abuse to the state’s Inspector General on Monday.
DeSantis nominated the five board members of the district earlier this year after he took control of it in punishment for Disney’s resistance to a state law that forbade classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the primary grades.
Firefighter Aaron Clark, whose father was a district firefighter as well, sobbed as he recalled how, when he was a child, his father took him to the parks using the passes, and how he now does the same with his three children.
The removal of the passes, according to Ricky Clark, his father, was “disturbing,” and he said that district staff had nothing to do with the antagonistic stance DeSantis and the district had taken toward Disney.
“My family had many special moments at the park, spending time together, moments that can never be taken away,” Ricky Clark said.
Martin Garcia, the board’s chair, justified the choice. According to Garcia, the passports and discounts unfairly favored Disney over other eateries and retailers operating in the district, employees with large families received a greater benefit than single employees, and private businesses could not provide presents to government employees who work for them.
Instead, he added, the district was giving workers a pay raise of more than $1,400.
The debate about whether the free passes and discounts constituted an immoral advantage occurred at the same time that the new district administrator, whom the board of directors hired in May, was confronted with a similar moral conundrum. Glen Gilzean was previously the chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics and makes $400,000 a year in his new position. He couldn’t be on the commission board and work for the district at the same time, according to a legal opinion issued last week. This is because the commission forbids public employees from being board members.
At the board meeting on Wednesday, Gilzean declared his resignation from the ethics commission.
Disney and DeSantis have been at odds since the latter publicly opposed the state law that has been dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” while suffering intense internal and external pressure.
DeSantis acquired control of the district as a result of the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passing legislation, and he created a new board of supervisors to manage the municipal services for the sizable theme parks and hotels. However, prior to the new board taking office, the corporation entered into agreements with predecessors who supported Disney, which limited the new supervisors’ authority over design and construction.
Lawmakers in Florida responded by passing legislation to revoke such contracts.
Disney has filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in federal court, alleging that the governor infringed upon its right to free expression. Disney has been sued by the district in state court in an effort to void the contracts.
Gilzean stated that $1.9 million and $4.5 million, respectively, were earmarked for litigation costs in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years during a budget presentation on Wednesday.