The Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board is abolishing all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs implemented by Reedy Creek Improvement District, calling them “illegal and unamerican.”
CFTOD District Administrator Glenton Gilzean
What’s Happening:
- Earlier today, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), installed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District, announced that they would be abolishing all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs that Reedy Creek implemented.
- CFTOD Administrator called the programs “illegal and simply unamerican,” and the official statement from the CFTOD claim that the programs cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
- The official release from the CFTOD:
- Today, District Administrator, Glenton Gilzean announced the abolition of all DEI programs at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The announcement comes after the Reedy Creek Improvement District implemented hiring and contracting programs that discriminated against Americans based on gender and race, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
- The announcement comes after an internal investigation into the district’s policies. The district’s DEI committee will be dissolved and any DEI job duties will be eliminated. CFTOD staff will also no longer be permitted to use any staff time to pursue DEI initiatives.
- “The so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives were advanced during the tenure of the previous board and they were illegal and simply unamerican,” said Administrator Gilzean. “Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal. As the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization, I can say definitively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences.”
- Under its Minority/ Women Business Enterprise and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs, the Reedy Creek Improvement District routinely awarded contracts based on racially and gender driven goals to businesses on the basis of their owners’ race and gender. Through the program, the Reedy Creek Improvement District instituted gender and racial quotas to ensure that contractors met a certain threshold of diversity. In order to meet these quotas, it is estimated that the district had to pay millions of dollars more in order to find businesses who could comply.
- After entering into a contract, Reedy Creek employees aggressively monitored contractor’s racial and gender practices, wasting taxpayer dollars. Previous contracts threatened contractors who did not keep up with racial or gender quotes with nonpayment and disqualification from future bidding.
- In 1967 the Florida State legislature, working with Walt Disney World Company, created a special taxing district – called the Reedy Creek Improvement District – that would act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government. Walt Disney World could then move ahead with its vision to turn 38.5 square miles of largely uninhabited pasture and swamp land into a global destination resort that welcomes millions of visitors every year. This operated successfully until recently, the Walt Disney Company spoke out against a new law passed by DeSantis, commonly referred to as the “don’t say gay” bill, when shortly after, DeSantis set out to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, installing the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in its place.
- You can see much of the national attention, including lawsuits, counter-suits and more in our coverage here.