ORLANDO, Fla. — The Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday unanimously approved Glen Gilzean to serve as its new administrator.

In his remarks following the approval, Gilzean, a former president and chief executive officer of the Central Florida Urban League, praised the board for its commitment to hiring an independent urban planner.

He also discussed a proposal to grow affordable workforce housing with the help of that urban planner.

“Nearly 60 million guests visited the four theme parks in our district in 2019 — and there are 75,000 employees dedicated to making their experience unforgettable. …Stunningly, a significant number of these employees live at or below the poverty line,” Gilzean said in prepared remarks for the meeting. “As such, proper urban planning and the construction of affordable workforce housing will prove a huge first step in making certain that they, their children, and their families are better off. This is critical if we are truly to become partners with all who work within our community.”

Disney last year had announced plans to build affordable housing outside the district.

Gilzean also discussed the impact of the tourists have on Central Florida.

“While tourists spend the majority of their time within our district, they still rely on outside resources to get them here,” he said. “Most guests fly into an airport located either in Orange or Seminole County and naturally, traverse roads throughout Central Florida. 

“These are just two small examples of how visitors are using resources that we all share and pay for.  As such, I propose the commissioning of a thorough regional impact study to ensure that our district does its part to offset the burden these tourists have on other resources throughout our community.”

How progress will be made on these goals is unclear because of litigation over the management of the district.

DeSantis pushed through legislation that allowed him to take over Disney World’s self-governing Reedy Creek Improvement District board and appointed a new board of supervisors known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board that would oversee municipal services in the sprawling theme parks after Disney had spoken out about the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. But before the new board came in, the company pushed through an 11th-hour agreement that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority.

Disney has filed a lawsuit, maintaining that the takeover of the district came in retaliation for the company’s opposition to the Parental Rights in Education and that legislation is written to specifically target only Disney. The board, in turn sued Disney to enforce actions the board took on April 26 to regain control over the district by nullifying agreements made between Disney and the outgoing Reedy Creek Improvement District Board ahead of the state's takeover.