Morale is down and the new leadership doesn’t care. That’s the message that was sent by former employees of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District through exit interviews obtained by reporter Jason Garcia. Dozens of employees have resigned, some very high ranking. In total, the District has lost more than 350 years of experience following the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis takeover earlier this year. In conversations we have had with district employees at public meetings, it is clear that the morale of the District has been negatively impacted. In one exit survey, a former employee noted as much, saying that “…the morale and overall feeling of the District has taken a turn. Not a good one”.
DeSantis, feathers ruffled by Disney’s opposition to his “Don’t Say Gay” bill, worked with the legislature to take over the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was a local taxing district that mainly oversaw the operations of the Walt Disney World Resort area. The orchestrated takeover was illegal retaliation, trampling Disney’s protected First Amendment right, according to the Company. Disney filed a lawsuit in federal court back in late April, eventually narrowing the scope of its argument to a First Amendment violation after moving other constitutional issues to a state-level case.
As part of the Governor’s takeover of the local taxing district, rubber-stamp legislators gave him the power to install an all-new Board of Supervisors. DeSantis chose donors and loyalists. Since the new Board of Supervisors took their spots and installed a new District Administrator, employees have either quit, been forced out, or chosen accelerated retirements.
Positions range from the former District Administrator to the Fire Chief, from building officials to the former clerk. All that adds up to more than 350 years of experience running a rather complex local taxing district that was crucial to the formation of the world’s premier tourism destination. The District has a number of jobs posted on job search websites, including high-ranking jobs such as Director of Facilities and Assistant Chief of Communications for the fire department. Other jobs include elevator inspector, construction project manager, accountant II, Biologist II, and more. In total, the District has more than a dozen open job positions.
The sentiment of outgoing employees has been clear: the new leadership is not working. Adjectives such as “unqualified and incompetent” are joined by “bridge-burning” and reviews that say that “honesty and integrity are core values that no longer exist in the District”.
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The disgruntled employees thought they worked for Disney. Shocked to find out otherwise. And then depression set in …
They DID work for Disney, though technically they were employees of Reedy Creek. They may not have been direct Disney employees, but they were treated as an extension of Disney and could take pride in helping to create part of the Disney magic. Now Reedy Creek has been transformed into the CFTOD – with a mission of sabotaging the Disney magic and making future WDW development as difficult as possible – and the CFTOD employees work for DeSantis. No wonder they’re depressed and disgruntled.
No Bill, they DID work for Disney. That pays upwards of 85% of the taxes in the district. Desantis can try to hide behind “BuT wHaT aBoUt ThE vOiCeS oF tHe TaXpAyErS!!1!1!1” all he wants, but nothing will change how dishonest that framing of his is.
this is the most transparently pathetic attempt to pivot; call perks and benefits that all parks and special district’s employees get “bribes”; maybe they’ll stop talking about how corrupt we are