Chairman of the board position is 'open' at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Mar 26, 2024 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Posted: Tuesday March 26, 2024 9:16am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District website has now been updated to reflect the recent departure of Chairman of the Board, Martin Garcia.

The position of CFTOD Chair is now listed as "open," and there is no additional information on the district's plans to find a successor to Garcia.

Garcia's departure came just days after CFTOD administrator Glen Gilzean took a new job as Supervisor of Elections in Orange County. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is moving Stephanie Kopelousos, another of his allies, into the administrator role.

In an email to the AP, DeSantis' communications director, Bryan Griffin, thanked Garcia for "successfully navigating" the transition of the district and added that Garcia "developed a new district focused on transparency and the elimination of corporate welfare."

The next CFTOD board meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2024, and one item on the agenda is the "Consideration of Employment Agreement with Stephanie Kopelousos for District Administrator."

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District near Disney Springs

Garcia was initially appointed as board chairman through February 2027 and was an original member of DeSantis' new organization, which replaced Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District in June 2023. Garcia has been one of the most outspoken critics of Disney, recently saying the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District was "arguably the most egregious example of corporate cronyism in the history of modern America."

Garcia is the second board member to leave, with Michael Sasso resigning from his board position after less than four months on the job. It was reported in October 2023 that over thirty employees have resigned from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District since the DeSantis takeover. This mass exodus includes almost half of its senior leadership, raising serious concerns about operational stability and political influence.

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eddie1048 minutes ago

That’s something we agree on.

flynnibus39 minutes ago

Of course they did… that’s PR and professionalism. They had their own market exposure they were trying to manage. You can’t be a public company and scream like a pirate ‘to the death!’ . There was a motion they could not stop - they put on a smile and said we are happy to work with our new neighbors… all while planning their demise behind closed doors. Yet… they contested things counter to that postulate. They blindsided desantis with the developer agreement… that is not what you do if you are expecting the other team to collab with you on a mutual split. Because that is when their case was expanded into the contract laws and gave them more teeth. Yes - I’ve already said these same things… disney isn’t really doing anything for the dev agreement and it’s basically toothless. The real fight and concessions are outside the developer agreement…. And behind closed doors. They can do plenty… im not going to rehash what has already been covered. The Florida GOP are once again on Disney’s payroll. There is no risk so long as that continues. I don’t think these people are that stable to be honest…

lazyboy97o2 hours ago

And the new development is on the very shaky ground the old one was accused of being on. It’s supposed to be based on what exists and is instead based on the future. There are no guardrails. This is the point. Disney caved in Florida in the hopes that they will run interference if Trump becomes president and gives federal power to someone like Stephen Miller. Trump’s “defense” of Disney was opportunistic to attack DeSantis, he didn’t really care. Disney is trying to protect themselves by being compliant and paying off others in his orbit.

Stripes2 hours ago

Disney had a very strong appeal for the First Amendment case. After the new district took over at the beginning of this mess, Vahle put out a statement that Disney sought to work with the new board on very friendly terms. Disney’s goal was never to continue this fight. It was to let DeSantis have his win by dismantling RCID while making sure they could still build whatever they wanted. Disney sued as soon as DeSantis and company attacked the development agreement. Disney promised to do things they were already going to do. It also doesn’t matter because even if Disney doesn’t do what they promised the district can’t prove otherwise until the development agreement expires anyway. The board can’t do much of anything to antagonize Disney anymore. Disney was content to have the new board takeover with guardrails in place at the beginning of this mess. The Florida GOP are once again on Disney’s payroll. There is no risk so long as that continues.

MisterPenguin2 hours ago

Not true. Amongst us pixie dusting shills, we also care about objective grammar. It's "toeing the line."

Cliff3 hours ago

Wrong....this forum is a fan site for "biased" reasoning. "You" might have a true objective goal...but most of this group does not. Yes...towing the line and waiving the tribal Disney flag IS the goal of hundreds of thousands of posts on this forum. Have you never heard of the "Pixie Duster" tribe here? They are a powerful foce and objectivity is not in their plan....towing the Disney line is the ONLY thing they are concerned with. Disney appologetics is everything to them. Yeah...true objectivity is a minority here.

flynnibus3 hours ago

Yes I know - which is why I said Disney would be the one to extend the olive branch... the act to initiate and signal a wish to reconcile... Disney knows full well what the union did and the sides they chose... but Disney also knows the union isn't going anywhere... and they know the union has egg on it's face. When your opposition is knocked down and deflated... being the one to help them back up is often a strong way to reconcile and move beyond the past transgressions.

flynnibus3 hours ago

Ehh.. the lawsuits were already done. And of course Disney only sued after the state attacked the developer agreement... they can't sue for a contract being violated before it was :) Disney made a pre-emptive strike at the district level with the developer agreement... they fired the first shots.. just not in court. No, Disney still has to deal with the district, and whomever the state decides to sit there.. and all the 'how can they make life worse for disney' points are all still the same. Nothing that happened since RCID was torn down touched anything in the comprehensive plan that was in place and the only portion of the new developer agreement that really matters is it locks in new land management minimums for the property as a whole. Disney basically promised 8 billion dollars and capitulating in return to ensure they get to define the new TBD comprehensive plan like the old days... with their interests at the forefront. Everything else is still as it was with the new District in power... the difference now is right now you have District management that is cooperating with Disney. It's just an example of how far things can swing based on the District's board... they can be completely antagonistic, or they can be completely submissive... all within the same structure. Disney gets to lock up the master plan for the property - but everything else is still at the whim of the Governor because he can swap people to do whatever he pleases. And her job is only as secure as the Governor in office's latest itch. The anti-Disney stance of the last year plus was not because a rogue guy was hired as the district administrator... let's not forget that. Those people were just yes-men who were replaced just as fast as they were put in place when the agenda changed. That risk hasn't changed.

lazyboy97o4 hours ago

The firefighters in particular did decide to get involved and oppose Disney.

flynnibus4 hours ago

I know they weren't truly employees - I think after 1200 pages we wouldn't be challenging that slang I used. Their benefits here were because Disney gave it to them.. and Disney was hands on in the arrangement.. as well as hands on with the District's management. They were not true employees - but they were in effect, serving at the behest of Disney and Disney calling the shots in this matter. Now that we are past the obvious... Yes, the tax liability has to be addressed since the cat is out of the bag so to speak... but Disney can just gross people up to cover the expense too. It's just a matter of what they want to pay for... and we've already heard how big of a deal it was to those who were getting the benefit. All of this is moving around the elephant in the room.. which is you have hundreds of rank and file employees who weren't part of this anti-disney campaign... but got dragged along with it... and now that their two-faced leaders have done the 180 to tow the new business mandate... I wonder if they will address the employees who lost through this.

Stripes4 hours ago

Bear in mind, Disney only sued once the district and the state came after the development agreement. Now that a development agreement is back in place (one that is very favorable to Disney) there’s no need to continue the lawsuits as Disney sees it. Bad PR in this age of incredible polarization with little benefit to the business. Disney can once again build whatever they want without government interference. The new administrator has a great relationship with Disney and worked with DeSantis in the past to carve out exceptions in legislation so that new laws wouldn’t apply to Disney. She has basically done their bidding for years.

Stripes4 hours ago

They were never Disney employees. Disney may allow the district employees to purchase the old passes again with their stipend. But unless the district changes how they calculate the stipend amount, it will never be the same perk.

flynnibus4 hours ago

Well, according to the district MANAGEMENT it was - who are no longer there. And the new management has already showed they are willing to to deals that contradict prior discord and agendas and the two parties are collaborating behind closed doors. (which ironically - that's the biggest thing the GOP HASN'T fixed about the prior district... because now they are part of the gang). Which is why I poised the question... will Disney turn back to its former employees and try to fight to make it happen?

Stripes4 hours ago

According to the district it was an inappropriate perk to begin with. So I don’t think the firefighters will be getting their Disney perks back. They’re SOL.