By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            A package arrived at Otter Creek Town Hall Monday addressed with a riddle apparently aimed at Town Clerk Mary DeGroot, but the mysterious package, as it turned out, contained a calculator.

            “It was a calculator. I’m sure there was a hidden message in there. I haven’t been following Otter Creek politics,” said Lt. Scott Tummond, public information officer for the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

            The package was addressed to “Mary Mary Math is Scary” using the Town Hall street address. It was delivered by Amazon Prime in the afternoon hours. The sender was anonymous.

            The arrival of the calculator is the latest in a series of happenings in the town that have included vile and sometimes expletive-laden phone calls to Town Hall.

            Mayor Russell Meeks said he was followed around town on election day April 4 by a man who publishes videos on his personal YouTube page – Jeremy Hales. He said it was the only day he was followed by Hales.

            Town Hall Clerk DeGroot expected Monday’s package to be a prank even though she personally didn’t want to open it. A sheriff’s deputy was called to the scene to investigate the package.

            Turns out, she was right.

            “I think it’s some kind of a joke, because of a funding issue with the YouTuber’s water bill. He likes to do rhymes and make up funny names,” she said.

            However, DeGroot is worried that with everything going on with the YouTuber’s videos and the obscene and threatening phone calls to Town Hall, things could get out of hand.

            “One of these lunatics that’s listening to the garbage the YouTuber is spewing – somebody’s going to get hurt. I don’t want it to be somebody in Otter Creek,” she said.

            The phone calls to Town Hall have been anonymous.

            In one call, recorded off the Town Hall’s voicemail by Spotlight, a man said, “Mayor Russell and the city, you are on notice, we’re comin’ for you. Your days are numbered. Your days of corruption are over and we’re comin’ for ya’,” he said.

            Another call recorded by Spotlight off the Town Hall voicemail was laced with expletives directed at the women in Town Hall. The man said, “You stupid f…. Cts. What’s wrong with the f…water bill over there? I see you guys in a f…. interview you SOBs…we’ll send a couple of thousand protesters around you f…. house, you f….pieces of s…..”

            The calls have been reported to the sheriff’s office.

            The election on April 4 may be part of the political chaos in Otter Creek, but just part of it.

            There has been controversy over the fact that residents of Shady Oaks Campground, an RV park in Otter Creek, voted in the election and may have influenced the outcome. The allegation is that not all those who voted are full-time residents of the town.

            Supervisor of Elections Tammy Jones said 19 RV park residents voted in the town election including the two owners of the RV park.  A total of 71 people cast ballots in the election.

            She said state law allows RV park residents to vote in elections, but they must swear under oath that they intend to use their RV as a permanent residence. She said some RV residents in Chiefland from Southern Leisure RV Resort and Strawberry Field RV Park do vote in city elections.

            She is aware of the controversy surrounding the Otter Creek election. She said if someone wants to contest the election, they will have to file a challenge through the clerk’s office at the courthouse. The case would go to a judge for a decision on whether voting irregularities occurred based on the facts presented.

            “It all comes down to a fact finding. If someone does contest the election the judge will determine by factual documents provided who lives in there and who doesn’t,” she said, referring to the RV park.

            Florida Law regarding mobile voters, states, “For a person with a nontraditional abode (e.g., boat, motor home, etc.) who intends and has presence in the county and intends for county to be residence county, acceptable addresses include: 1) the place where messages regularly received, 2) the general delivery address at a specific post office, or 3) the address for the campground or docking site (if mail is received there)

—————–

Enterprise Reporting by April 10, 2023; Posted April 10, 2023