What’s Happening with the CFTOD?
What’s happening with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD)?
Something’s definitely going on behind the scenes, and even after two years of the Reedy Creek nonsense, this one’s…odd.
Florida just changed CFTOD leadership for the second time in a week.
So, we’re wondering why and reading the tea leaves on what comes next.
The Recent CFTOD Turnover
We already knew about the turmoil at the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.
More than ten percent of the former staff quit in the wake of the transition from Reedy Creek to the CFTOD.
As a brief refresher, Disney took a stand on Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill during the Bob Chapek regime.
As punishment, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis negated Disney’s Reedy Creek agreement and overrode it with the CFTOD.
During the turnover, many workers believed that DeSantis wanted Disney loyalists gone.
These since-retired and fired workers claim that the new CFTOD regime made them feel unwelcome.
The term “bullying” was tossed around several terms, which wasn’t a good look for anybody.
Throughout this CFTOD conversion, DeSantis was running a different political campaign.
Florida’s Governor attempted to leverage his anti-Disney platform to draw attention on the national political stage.
That plan failed mightily, with DeSantis burning cash while gaining only a disproportionately low number of votes in Republican primaries.
On January 21st, DeSantis dropped out of the Presidential campaign, leaving Floridians to wonder what would happen next.
A defiant DeSantis had built his entire political reputation on the strongman archetype and acts of brazen defiance.
After what was objectively a humiliating defeat, the governor faced headlines of running the “worst campaign in history.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis had burned bridges in his home state while trying to lay a path to becoming President of the United States.
As a term-limited elected official, the governor loses his job in January 2027.
So, he has less than three years to make an impact. Now that he’s back home, he’s reevaluated several positions.
Changes at the Top of the CFTOD
Last week, a couple of unexpected headlines popped up in Central Florida.
First, DeSantis assigned his trusted ally, Glen Gilzean, as Supervisor of Elections in Orange County.
I’m now putting my tongue squarely in my cheek as I say that I’m sure that will go great.
As a reminder, Gilzean already held a job that mattered substantially more to Disney fans, though.
He was the District Administrator for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
In other words, DeSantis specifically chose his friend to oversee the transition from Reedy Creek to the CFTOD.
Now that the transitional phase has ended, the governor has reassigned Gilzean to a different position.
That change forced Gilzean to exit the CFTOD, which has caused a fascinating ripple effect we’ll discuss in a moment.
Before we get to that, we should acknowledge another recent change within the CFTOD’s board.
Martin Garcia, an outspoken Disney critic, had previously worked as Chairman…until now. He just departed the board entirely.
The notable part of this exit is that Garcia’s contract called for him to chair the board until 2027.
That timing would have conveniently allowed Garcia to leave at the same time that DeSantis stopped being governor.
Theoretically, the timing was coincidental, but that’s only true if you believe in the Easter Bunny and the Great Pumpkin.
Garcia was there to act as the voice of DeSantis on all Reedy Creek matters.
What’s Happening with the CFTOD?
Last month, a federal judge ruled in DeSantis’ favor on the CFTOD takeover.
While Disney is appealing, after one year of the change, DeSantis holds a more comfortable position.
There’s just one tiny problem. Polling data from the election show that many people disliked DeSantis for his actions.
Should the politician want to extend his career by running for one of Florida’s two Senate seats or something similar, he needs to reinvent himself.
That’s what makes the announcement of Gilzean’s replacement so fascinating.
DeSantis could have picked literally anyone. He chose Stephanie Kopelousos as the next District Administrator for the CFTOD.
I don’t expect you to know this former lobbyist by name, but she holds a fascinating distinction.
In 2021, Disney successfully lobbied to change the wording of a Florida bill regarding social media.
An Ars Technica headline described the matter as “Disney gets special “theme park” exception to Florida’s anti-tech bill.”
Yes, just before Disney and DeSantis broke up in a very public way, they’d been close allies.
Kopelousos liaised with Disney on the language this bill needed to guarantee it wouldn’t impact Disney+.
As recounted by Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel, Kopelousos would send emails with headers like “Latest from Disney…”
Obviously, Kopelousos developed a strong working relationship with Disney during this timeframe.
Many of Disney’s lawyers during those 2021 negotiations remain in place today despite the regime change from Chapek to Bob Iger.
Disney stays Disney through it all.
What Happens Next with the CFTOD?
Kopelousos is someone who had previously been a Disney ally.
So, when DeSantis assigns her to run the CFTOD, we can draw one of two likely conclusions.
DeSantis may be punishing Disney by hiring a former subordinate of the company to dictate its land laws.
Alternatively, the governor could be quietly offering an olive branch by introducing someone Disney knows well.
We’re reading the tea leaves either way here, but a couple of other points merit consideration.
The first is that Garcia’s removal could be a second sign that DeSantis wants to dial back the incendiary rhetoric.
Last month, he held a press conference where he took his public victory lap even though he knows the matter is far from settled.
The governor will always have that moment he can highlight about his CFTOD takeover.
However, the governor has lost in federal court much more often than not, and he knows that.
His first Disney victory was one that left legal observers scratching their heads in confusion.
Similarly, DeSantis recently settled a lawsuit involving the Don’t Say Gay bill.
The outcome is that it’s now perfectly fine to say gay again in a Florida school.
This settlement allows both parties to claim victory, as DeSantis keeps the law on the books, while the teeth of the legislation were extracted.
With the removal of Garcia, we could be witnessing a similar move toward a compromise between DeSantis and Disney.
Whatever happens next, this board includes five members plus the District Administrator.
In barely one year, three of those positions have turned over, with another possible due to a recent scandal involving a member’s husband.
So, the CFTOD appears likely to generate more headlines in the coming months.
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