Martin Garcia, chairman of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said he and his fellow board members had to respond to Disney’s legal action.
“Since Disney sued us. … We have no choice now but to respond,” Garcia said.
Filed in Orange County, Fla., the lawsuit claims that Disney wanted to maintain its “fiefdom,” and that the board is suing to “restore the people’s sovereignty.” It says Disney’s recent actions were done with “haste or arrogance,” and “reek of a backroom deal.”
“As a result they are null and void — not even worth the paper they were printed on,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit by DeSantis’s handpicked board comes five days after Disney filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in Tallahassee. Garcia said his board’s suit was filed in a state court in Central Florida to “seek justice in our own backyard.”
Disney communications staff did not return a request for comment.
Speaking at a separate event Monday, DeSantis said the board’s actions are based on contract law that should be decided in a state court, not a federal court.
He also reiterated his belief that because he won reelection by a landslide in November on a platform that included fighting against “woke corporations,” he has a popular mandate to take action against Disney.
“But at the end of the day, it’s a question about good governance,” DeSantis said.
Disney’s suit claims that DeSantis is punishing the company after its executives criticized a law that limits how teachers can talk about gender and sexuality issues in early grades. DeSantis championed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which critics have called the “don’t say gay” law.
After Disney joined LGBT advocates and other critics of the law, DeSantis and the GOP-led state legislature dissolved Disney’s special taxing district, called Reedy Creek, which the state had established in 1967 for the Walt Disney World park.
In February, DeSantis and state lawmakers approved a new special taxing district for Disney’s property, and had the board appointed by the governor.
Before DeSantis’s board had its first meeting, the outgoing Reedy Creek supervisors transferred most of the district’s powers and duties to Disney, leaving the new group little power.
DeSantis called that move “collusive and self-dealing,” and ordered a state investigation. The board he chose to run the district last week voted to make the outgoing Reedy Creek agreement null and void. Disney filed its lawsuit minutes later.
Garcia said the board will have to raise taxes to fight Disney in court. He also signaled that the board will be deeply involved in planning for the district, criticizing Disney for not being innovative enough.
“Think about why Disney has been so successful in the past 56 years, because they’ve innovated,” Garcia said. “Innovation is the American way. But for us to be stuck in an urban planning design off 1967, does that make sense to anybody? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
The five members of the board chosen by DeSantis include Garcia, an attorney, two other attorneys, a founding member of Moms for Liberty, and a pastor. The new state law that created the board mandated that anyone who has worked for a theme park in the past three years is not eligible to be on the board.
All of it is too much for some Disney fans and local residents.
Douglas Dixon, who owns a timeshare at Disney, spoke at Monday’s meeting.
“I really hope you just resign, or stop, or actually just do your job, which is to do what’s in the best interest of the district, not what’s in the best interest of the governor,” Dixon said. “People used to ask who I was for, for president. I was for DeSantis, until he started this stupid war. And it’s destroying us.”