Just because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis created the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to wage political war with Walt Disney, not everything the new board does is wrong.
DeSantis's new board replaced the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board, which Disney had appointed.
Reedy Creek was not unique in Florida. Roughly 2,000 special districts operate in the state -- but the Disney setup did have some flaws.
The RCID gave Walt Disney (DIS) control over the land that Disney World sits on. That arrangement made sense because Disney owns massive tracts of land within Disney World where it spends billions of dollars on development.
DON'T MISS: DeSantis's 'Woke' War With Disney Claims New Victim
Disney's control of the board streamlined the process, and the location of Disney World largely is such that the theme park is sort of a giant island.
Yes, it borders a lot of large communities, but most land and development choices at Disney affected only company-owned land. Other choices the RCID made, however, did have an impact beyond land.
The former board, for example, was at odds with its firefighters and emergency medical technicians, who had been operating without a contract for roughly four years. The new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and the former RCID are essentially governments that have authority over thousands of people.
Now, the new board has done something that the former board opposed. The move might be political in nature, but in trying to hit Disney where it hurts, DeSantis's board is doing the right thing.
DeSantis Board Sets Whistleblower Rules
While DeSantis endlessly has been trying to paint Disney as "woke," his insult for companies that consider diversity and inclusion in their business decisions, the Mouse House has not been an overly progressive employer when dealing with Disney World's so-called cast members. The company and its workers have had multiple contentious negotiations in recent years.
Those labor negotiations have resulted in what will be an $18-an-hour minimum wage at Disney World by the end of 2023 -- well beyond Florida's $11-an-hour minimum wage.
But it's also fair to say that despite its so-called wokeness, Chief Executive Bob Iger runs Disney like a business. That means it may not always be open to worker concerns, and that's something the new board wants to address.
Martin Garcia, chairman of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said at the June 20 board meeting that the group decided to adopt a formal whistleblower policy because of employee feedback. He claimed that workers said their concerns were not being heard by the previous Disney-controlled board, the Washington Examiner reported.
"One of the bits of feedback we received shortly after being appointed to this board is that some of our staff and employees felt like maybe their grievances or concerns or new ideas were falling on deaf ears, with respect to the prior board," Garcia said.
"We as a board want to make sure that our policy is to be open, honest, transparent, and receptive to ideas from anybody, including our staff and employees."
Here's What the New Disney Whistleblower Policy Says
It's hard to know whether DeSantis's board makes a move because it's truly the right thing to do or because it strikes a blow at Disney. In this case, the whistleblower decision might be taking a little bit from both columns.
The new rules create a framework to enable employees "that have knowledge of unlawful activity, misfeasance, or malfeasance by the District, its employees, or its independent contractors, in reporting such knowledge so that the District can address and correct inappropriate conduct and actions."
The policy says it is not intended to replace state statutes but rather is reinforcing protections for whistleblowers. It was adopted by the board in a unanimous vote, according to the website.
Technically, state and federal law already provide these protections, but Garcia defended the new policy -- which seems "woke" -- as positive for workers.
"We want to encourage open and honest government, and we want to establish a culture for the employees so they feel free to come forward," Garcia said.
