The newest development in the legal disputes between the entertainment behemoth, DeSantis, and the DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District taking place in both state and federal courts was Disney’s request to dismiss filed in an Orlando state court. The conflict is on who will have power over the special governing district, which makes decisions about what gets developed at Disney World and oversees the provision of municipal-style services across the 25,000 acres that makes up the Disney World resort.
“A little more than a year ago, Disney made a political statement that Governor DeSantis did not agree with.” Disney claimed in the motion that “the Governor launched a campaign of retribution in response and used the government’s authority to penalize Disney for its free expression.”
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District filed the complaint in Florida’s Orange County earlier this month, which Disney is attempting to have dismissed. Prior to the new DeSantis-appointed members of the board meeting for the first time, Disney had arrangements in place with prior board members who were Disney allies. Disney wants to overturn these agreements.
The DeSantis-appointed supervisors said that the agreements provided the corporation control over construction and design, which deprived them of their authority. The complaint that was filed by the DeSantis-appointed board stated that the deals “reek of a secret deal,” wasn’t properly disclosed and that the Disney backers had improperly transferred public power to a private company.
Disney upheld the agreements in its motion. Disney reportedly carried out the agreements to safeguard its financial investments in Florida’s central region, which includes billions of dollars in fresh initiatives and thousands of job opportunities, when it was “faced with a new unfriendly state admin.,” the corporation said.
Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis as well as the DeSantis-appointed board in a federal court this past month for violating the freedom of speech. Disney requested that the judge nullify the Florida governor’s takeover of the Walt Disney World resort district in addition to the decisions of the oversight board.
Disney and DeSantis have remained at odds for over a year now, and as the GOP governor gets ready to announce his anticipated presidential run in the weeks ahead, he has come under fire for it.
