Disney World governing district’s new whistleblower policy makes it more transparent, officials say

Disney World’s new governing board enacted a whistleblower policy for district employees to report concerns for the first time.

Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board chairman Martin Garcia said the new policy signals a new culture at Disney’s special independent district.

Garcia said district employees and staff complained “their grievances, or concerns or more ideas, were falling on deaf ears back to the prior board.”

It’s one of several changes the Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed board has made since taking over Disney World’s special district this year. The board unanimously approved the policy during Wednesday’s meeting.

Garcia pledged the new board will be more “open, honest, transparent and receptive to ideas.”

“Hopefully that sends a message that the culture here is from the board’s perspective, we want to hear from you — good, bad and ugly, whatever it is,” Garcia said.

The policy says employees can report illegal activity and wrongdoing and are protected from retaliation. The policy takes effect immediately for non-union employees, and the district will delay the policy for union employees who collectively bargain. The policy does not replace the State of Florida’s Whistleblower Act.

Since taking over, the new board has posted meeting agendas online, live-streamed its meetings, and hired a new administrator to oversee the special district that handles Disney World’s utilities, roads and emergency services.

Garcia criticized the old board for what he said had “essentially no board policies.”

The DeSantis-appointed board members replaced the former board members who had essentially been chosen by The Walt Disney Company.

DeSantis and Republican supporters pushed through a law that allowed the state to take over Disney World’s governing board and replace it with new members after Disney spoke out against the “Parental Rights in Education” legislation otherwise dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”

Disney, DeSantis and the governing board have been embroiled in litigation ever since. Disney has accused DeSantis of retaliating against the company for exercising its freedom of speech. DeSantis and the governing board say Disney tried to hijack the state-run board by approving last-minute development deals with the outgoing board to steal the new board’s power.

At Wednesday’s board meeting, the board did not vote on a new contract for union firefighters and instead scheduled a closed meeting Friday to discuss union negotiations.

As reported by Florida Politics, Disney World firefighter union leader Jon Shirey blamed union members for sharing the proposed contract on social media and with media outlets, claiming the district then faced a backlash from other community leaders upset about the firefighters’ proposed salary increases. The union had already approved the contract that would have raised firefighters’ minimum pay from $55,000 to $65,000.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot to the tune of millions of dollars that this agreement would have put into the pockets of our members,” Shirey wrote union members. “If/when we come to some new agreement, don’t share it with your family, your friends, members of other departments, and definitely not randomly out on social media. DO NOT SHARE IT WITH ANYONE!!!!”

District Administrator Glen Gilzean told the Orlando Sentinel after Wednesday’s meeting he is still working to finalize the contract.

“We’re going to give our firefighters the best resources … to be competitive not only here locally but also here with our neighbors,” Gilzean told the Sentinel.