Harry Dressler was crazy. Remember him? virtually no resident could go to lobby City Hall as they would probably be humiliated at the microphone. Developers dreaded meeting with Harry. Staff complained that he smoked cigars and drop f-bombs during meetings, making Tamarac look like a circus. He spent thousands of dollars of Tamarac Tax-payer money to receive training from Harvard University and then retired abruptly. He called another Commissioner a Black-piece-of-shit and berated him in a public meeting for showing up at a Democratic Club meeting.
But, there is a new type of crazy at Tamarac City Hall. Enter Elvin Villalobos, a Trump-voting maniac, who moved to Tamarac from Hialeah via Nicaraga. Villalobos, the former Home Owner Association President at Banyan Lakes in east Tamarac, met Bolton while he was campaigning. Villalobos donated to Bolton’s campaign and the two would kick it off as inseparable friends, sort of.
“I represent and love everyone and that’s what makes me so successful, so I didn’t care that he was Republican,” Bolton told Tamarac Post. ” He seemed to love politics and had a heart for people, but there were more concerning warning signs” Bolton added. Residents at Banyan Lakes warned Bolton of the newfound connection with Villalobos. Bolton recalls residents telling him that Villalobos was an authoritarian who had his own way and would go on a rampage if people didn’t agree with him. But the warnings didn’t stop Bolton from encouraging Villalobos to run for Mayor against Dressler.
“Dressler was a terrible leader, his decisions made no sense and were bad for the City,” Bolton said. With approximately $30,000 in Dressler’s campaign account, Villalobos, a virtual unknown, signed up to run for Mayor. Dressler seemed to buckle and dropped out of the race. It was at that juncture that Michelle Gomez, the then-District 2 Commissioner, entered the race for Mayor. Gomez presented herself as the candidate with the most education, experience, and endorsements. The results of the election sent shock waves through Broward County. Marlon Bolton had created a political machine that brought Elvin Villalobos within 395 votes of winning a Mayoral election and everyone was terrified. Michelle Gomez had only won the election by 42% with the Majority of the City saying they needed someone else.
Gomez was sworn in as Mayor and ran Tamarac like a Banana Republic. She supported then Commissioner Julie Fishman’s behavior when she continued to receive a $700 car allowance even when she had no car and was riding a bike from her home to City Hall. So, Bolton, the fighter for good government, encouraged Villalobos to run for City Commissioner. Villalobos won the election by 104 votes against Fishman and Wright.
Weeks after winning the election Villalobos turned against Bolton when he found a Republican friend who runs a Blog that attacks elected officials, their friends, and family. Villalobos seemed to forget about the hard work Bolton had put into him for 4 years. Elvin Villalobos now spends his day on Nextdoor and Facebook trashing Bolton and Vice Mayor Gelin. While disseminating the Blog’s lies, attacks, and partial views. At almost every Commission meeting Villalobos attacks Bolton and Gelin and, he is not alone. He is joined by Republicans from all over the County who takes over social media threads and the microphone at City Hall.
“Saying awful things about your own wife is disgusting,” Bolton said, he added that he realized Elvin was dangerous when he said his wife was fat and that he only remarried her to avoid paying child support. “The wicked thing is that Elvin then blamed me as if I made the comment… He played the victim well”
Bolton says, he remembers being at the Polls handing out Villalobos’ materials desperately trying to find votes for him, “He [Elvin] cared more about sitting down and laughing with other poll workers than actually working. “I remember how Hot the Sun was, then I prayed for rain, and when the rain came, I was drenched, only for the Sun to come out and dry me again,” Bolton said, adding that when he ran out of materials, Villalobos walked up to him and said, “You want more literature”? I almost died of Pneumonia from and exhaustion after the two weeks of working at the Polls while Elvin pretended he did all the work to win.
When Tamarac Post asked Bolton if he was offended at Villalobos’ attitude, he said this: “I did it for the residents of Tamarac, not for me or for Elvin. I get involved in Tamarac Politicals to remove bad politicians because residents sometimes do not have the resources to fight against the corruption themselves. I intend to continue to love Elvin and his neighbors, I forgive him and will not hold offense in my heart. But I do intend to make a public apology for supporting him, it was bad judgment on my part.”
