Toll wars: Miami-Dade fills seats on MDX board that state says doesn’t exist

Florida lawmakers dissolved the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority two years ago, but that didn’t stop county commissioners from voting to fill five MDX board seats on Tuesday.

“It’s a new beginning,” Commissioner Joe Martinez said ahead of the vote — before noting that it’s likely the beginning of yet another lawsuit over the toll board.

“Right now,” he said, “we’re expecting a lawsuit from the state.”

The commission vote was the latest escalation in a legal fight that began in 2019 when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill creFlorida’s ating a new toll agency in Miami-Dade: the Greater Miami Expressway Agency — nicknamed the GMX.

The law capped a feud between MDX and some Miami-Dade state lawmakers over higher tolls. Under the legislation, MDX was dissolved and its five expressways — the Airport, Dolphin, Don Shula, Gratigny, and Snapper Creek — were to transfer to the GMX.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE NEW GMX TOLL BOARD?

That hasn’t happened, as MDX staff launched a suit against Florida to freeze the law, spending $1 million on the litigation, according to the most recent accounting filed in court papers.

First District Court of Appeal on Monday rejected MDX’s request for another hearing, after ruling in March that the entity is a state agency and not eligible to sue over a state law.

With defeat near on that litigation, MDX backers are counting on MiamiDade County to take up the court fight. On May 4, commissioners approved a resolution declaring the GMX unconstitutional and dissolved, a move designed to set up a legal clash with the DeSantis administration.

Commissioners had already hobbled the new agency by refusing to fill five of the nine seats on the GMX board.

The Republican-controlled Legislature had a fix for that, too, and passed a law this year taking away one seat from the county and giving DeSantis power to appoint the five seats needed for a quorum.

He hasn’t signed the bill into law yet, but he’s expected to in the coming weeks.

MONESTIME, DIAZ, AND MOSS NAMED TO MDX BOARD

The GMX board now looks likely to have a cross-town rival in an

MDX board stocked with two sitting commissioners. A resolution by Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz seats him on the new board, along with fellow Commissioner Jean Monestime.

Joining them will be former commissioner Dennis Moss, as well as county public works administrator Darlene Fernandez and Rafael Rodon, a retired development executive.

Moss has been a supporter of the $1 billion extension of the Dolphin Expressway into West Kendall, the signature MDX project stalled by legal challenges and the GMX legislation.

With the stand-off appearing to harden, Commissioner Raquel Regalado said she wanted MiamiDade to find a compromise with Tallahassee and not insist on MDX’s revival.

“I hope we can find common ground,” she said. “I don’t really care what we call the entity . ... It’s just a matter of getting to a place where people don’t feel wounded.” Diaz responded: “It’s not going to happen.”

Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said he was ready to see the saga end.

“I’m really MDX- and GMX-fatigued at this point,” he said. “It’s becoming a bit much.”