Disney district employees are quitting in droves because they hate DeSantis’s management so much

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) hostile takeover of Disney’s special tax district has proven to be taking its toll. According to the Associated Press, more than 40 of 370 employees have quit their jobs with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District since February, when DeSantis replaced Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own appointed board.

DeSantis’s move was retaliatory, a reaction to Disney’s opposition to his Don’t Say Gay law. Making it very clear his decision was fueled by a desire to punish Disney for speaking out, DeSantis ended the entertainment company’s decades-old special zoning agreement and stripped Disney of control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District surrounding Walt Disney World.

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The AP obtained exit surveys from many of these employees, and together, these documents reveal a district that has stopped caring for its employees and community and instead is based on cronyism and political gain.

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“You now see fake smiles and I am sure that a lot of employees are somewhat scared to say what they actually feel because of retaliation,” said one ex-finance employee.

Another former employee lamented the loss of heart they witnessed: “When I first joined the District, I found an organization that strived to be the very best at serving our community, sought the very best employees and valued those employees above all else. I find myself leaving a completely different District. A District that prioritizes politics above all else and will gladly sacrifice its employees, its community and its work if there’s an opportunity to score political points.”

Other former workers said the district is “no longer functional,” that “the workplace culture has been destroyed,” that leadership is engaging in cronyism, and that the new board has “negatively changed by experience with top leadership… and given me a good reason to retire.”

Unsurprisingly, the new management is telling a different story. A spokesperson for the district told the AP that many of the employees who left were already planning to retire before DeSantis took over and that many employees who have been there for decades remain.

Matthew Oberly, the district’s director of external affairs, stated, “We are committed to enhancing the well-being of our staff members. Our unwavering commitment is to maintain our tradition of excellence and continue delivering outstanding services to our taxpayers.”

DeSantis and Disney are currently engaged in a lawsuit. Disney sued the governor for a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint.” In court documents filed last week, Disney reportedly warned that a DeSantis victory would lead to a slew of other companies being punished for expressing a “disfavored viewpoint.”

“If the line is not drawn here, there is no line at all,” Disney stated. “The retaliation against Disney for crossing the Governor’s ‘line’ was swift and severe: for the explicitly-stated purpose of punishing Disney for its comments, the State immediately stripped Disney of its voting rights in the governing body that oversees Disney’s use of its own private property.”

In addition to stripping Disney of control over its special tax district, DeSantis has threatened to build a prison next to Disney and called for state oversight of Disney World’s rides. Florida Republicans also threatened to tax Disney’s hotels and impose tolls on roads that lead into Disney World as well as shut down its famous 15-mile monorail.

DeSantis has also repeatedly threatened and railed against Disney in public, saying, “I think they crossed the line… We’re going to make sure we’re fighting back when people are threatening our parents and threatening our kids.” Soon after, he told conservative commentator Dave Rubin, “I thought it was a mistake for Disney to get involved and I told them, ‘You shouldn’t get involved, it’s not going to work out well for you.’”

DeSantis has been widely mocked for his obsession with punishing Disney, and the feud is also costing Florida taxpayers millions of dollars.

DeSantis is currently running for president in the Republican primary. While he is polling in second place, he is far behind first-place candidate Donald Trump, with 14.4% support compared to Trump’s 58.5%, according to RealClearPolitics.