Recent news that two of Broward’s elected leaders made inappropriate sexual and/or bigoted remarks while conducting official business inside City Hall was met with silence from the other lawmakers, Democratic Party officials and even the legacy media. On June 9, 2022, REDBROWARD reported how Tamarac Vice Mayor Elberg Mike Gelin directed two bigoted remarks at fellow Commissioner Elvin Villalobos. One week later, REDBROWARD revealed a Human Resources investigation showed Plantation Councilman Nick Sortal made inappropriate sexual and racial remarks to a longtime city employee.
Both men are on the November ballot in races against incumbent female mayors. Both men, and their opponents, are Democrats. As of today, the Sun-Sentinel wrote about the Sortal investigation. Nothing about Gelin’s anti-Hispanic remarks to Villalobos. Nothing else. No angry statements from lawmakers representing Tamarac and Plantation on the State and local levels. No rebukes from Democrat Party leaders or activists.
Mike Gelin is running against Mayor Michelle Gomez. During a Tamarac Commission meeting, Gelin claimed Villalobos thought “Latin American rules” applied in Florida.
“This is America. We have freedom of speech,” Gelin lectured. “That should be explained to the Commissioner who may still think that Latin American rules apply in America. And it doesn’t.”
“Excuse me? Excuse me? What do you mean that it doesn’t apply to Latin America, Vice Mayor?” Villalobos asked.
Later, Gelin stated the City Attorney needed to better educate Commissioners, “Who may not understand how this country is governed.”
While filing his paperwork to run against Plantation Mayor Lynn Stoner, Nick Sortal told a black female deputy clerk that “My dick is hard” for a battle with Stoner. Then, after learning there were no black candidates for Mayor, Sortal said, “Oh good, Plantation will never have a black mayor.”
Even though he admitted to making the comments, Nick Sortal spent a week trying to smear anyone reporting the facts. Despite being a former reporter, Sortal urged his supporters to attack the Sun-Sentinel story by Lisa Huriash. Now, Sortal and his allies want to track down the source of the story even though he made a third admission at last Wednesday’s council meeting.
Inappropriate sexual remarks. Bigoted remarks against Hispanics. Bigoted remarks against Blacks. Smear and pressure campaigns against the media.
Yet, crickets from the legacy media and party leaders.
This is not “dirty politics” as Sortal claims. This is no ginned up Republican plot.
These two Democrat men are running against two Democrat women.
These two men made bigoted remarks within their City Halls while conducting official business.
Is there no accountability?
Voters in Tamarac and Plantation have noticed.
Are Democrat Party leaders and media types so out of touch with their local constituents that they think it’s ok to ignore this unacceptable behavior from grown men?
Are Democrat leaders and local media so distracted by Governor Ron DeSantis and national politics that they would allow elected officials to spew sexual and racial comments to females and minorities without consequence?
Shame on them.
REDBROWARD 
We already know the answers to your questions. The Democrats and the legacy media — but I repeat myself — will NEVER call out bad behavior by one of their own. But they never pass on the chance to “report” when Governor DeSantis sneezes and turns it into a crisis.
Yesterday, Javier Manjarres reported in The Floridian that “State Senator Tina Polsky (D) announced to the crowd of about 250 at the Esplanade in Downtown Fort Lauderdale that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t care about women, particularly his wife and daughters.”
Why?
“Because he let her attend events maskless while she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.”
And, somehow, that’s news.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
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Tamarac has a problem with the commissioners working together. Too much divisiveness and pettiness permeates Tamarac City Government. This divisiveness gets in the way of properly governing because it is not only a distraction, it causes a negative aftershock throughout Tamarac, you know, the city these councilpersons are supposed to be representatives of the taxpayers. Not good representation and not a whole lot of transparency either. Commissioner Gelin has been controversial and I remember when he made national news and the wire services for his behavior at an awards ceremony concerning a Broward Sheriffs Deputy. All this ill will and personal attacks has to stop. The citizens of Tamarac are not well served by any of these representatives.
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The voters of Tamarac are well aware of what’s going on at the commission meetings. If we can’t attend in person, many of us stream them.
Commissioner Gelin who likes to address himself as Vice Mayor is a rude inept commissioner and hopefully he will be gone after the next election. He inherited the position of Vice mayor. It’s not an elected position as he would have you think.
He’s I’ll equipped to be a commissioner. He has no tact and whatever comes in his head comes out of his mouth, regardless of it’s worth.
Hopefully we can wave goodbye to him very soon.
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Tom, and you surprised, why?
Between them, there is no sin worthy of mentioning but if we are speaking about Republicans…. there is no transgression too small as not worthy of immediate banishment if possible, censure at the very least.
More to the point this unequal application of justice will continue until we are finally rid of the Blue Myth of Democrat dominance in this county.
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