Miffed about MIA’s renewed deal with FIU bridge builder, lawmaker pushes ethics bill
Miffed that the Miami-Dade County Commission renewed an airport contract with a company that built the pedestrian bridge that collapsed at Florida International University in 2018, a Miami lawmaker is advancing a bill requiring local airport authorities to abide by new ethics rules or lose state transportation money.
Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Miami Springs, said the impetus for the legislation was the July 23 decision by Miami-Dade County Commission, which approved the contract extension for Munilla Construction Management without discussion.
MCM had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, saying the catastrophic FIU bridge collapse had left it unable to borrow the money needed to complete jobs and remain solvent.
“The company has no state certification yet the county commission saw fit to extend their contract — I believe a $40 million contract — to do work at the airport,” Avila told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Wednesday.
The bill, HB 915, would require airports to hold a public hearing for every contract valued at more than $65,000 and be forbidden from approving those contracts as part of a consent agenda — with no discussion.
The bill requires that the contract be listed as a separate line item on a meeting agenda, and the public given a reasonable opportunity to comment.
Jess McCarty, Miami-Dade assistant county attorney, said after the meeting that when the MCM contract came up on the agenda there was an opportunity for the public to speak on it, or any commissioner could have discussed it if there had been a desire.
The bill also attempts to impose “enhanced transparency and accountability” by requiring the members of the governing board and airport officials to comply with the state code of ethics for public employees, Avila said.
Members of the governing board of the state’s 20 large hub commercial airports would be required to file the state’s Form 6 Financial Disclosure and to complete four hours of ethics training each year. The governing boards must also establish websites to provide information to the public, such as meeting notices, agendas and minutes of meetings.
The state auditor general would be required to conduct an audit of the airport operation, and if the airport doesn’t meet the state requirements, the state can withhold transportation funds, Avila said.
“First impressions matter,’’ he said, and airports are often the public’s first encounter with a region. “So we want to make sure our airports are elevated in terms of the caliber of service they provide to individuals.”
In February 2019, a year after the fatal FIU bridge collapse, Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration extended MCM’s $40 million contract to complete a series of small airport construction projects. In July, he asked county commissioners to ratify keeping the company at the airport through August 2020.
Gimenez’s wife, Lourdes, is a cousin to the Munilla brothers who run the company, and both of the Gimenez sons have worked for MCM in the past. Before the bridge collapse, the company was also an active political donor, giving about $100,000 to incumbent county commissioners and $500,000 in federal races.
McCarty, the Miami-Dade attorney, thanked Avila for “having an open door policy” and for listening to the county’s concerns but said the $65,000 contract threshold was not workable.
“We obviously agree with the goals of transparency and accountability and our airports are already in compliance with the vast majority of provisions in this bill,’’ he said.
The bill targets the state’s 20 large airports, most of which are governed by either a county or airport authority and which are represented by the Florida Airports Council. The council told the committee it opposes the bill because the requirement to hold a public hearing on every $65,000 contract would make it difficult for airports to respond to emergencies.
The measure was unanimously approved by the House committee. A similar measure is pending in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah.
Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
