VOLUME 6 ISSUE 11
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Live Oak this weekend Pg A5 MARCH 14 - 20, 2025
Local bipartisan opposition forms against FL Sen. McClain’s SB1118 The crux of the opposition is maintaining “home rule” and a desire to preserve Marion’s farmland. By Jennifer Hunt Murty Jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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n response to what some call an “attack” on home rule, local bipartisan opposition has formed against Senate Bill 1118 filed by State Sen. Stan McClain, R-Marion, and its identical House Bill 1209 filed by Rep. Kevin Steele, R-Pasco. The bills would wrest
local control of development from cities and counties across the state and open up hundreds of thousands of agricultural acres to developers without review from local governments. If passed, the new laws would supersede any local overlay zones of protection, including Marion County’s revered Farmland Preservation Area. The bill language only provides for protection of state-mandated protection
areas and lists two: “The Wekiva Study Area, as described in s. 369.316; or 2. The Everglades Protection Area, as defined in s.169 373.4592(2).” The bills propose no restrictions on minimum lot size and assume that maximum densities per any current land development code would be automatically put into effect. The city of Ocala and the Marion County Board of County
Commissioners would lose their authority to restrict the number of units per acre in a housing project. There was still no analysis associated with either bill as of March 12. McClain’s bill has been introduced however, and it has been forwarded to the Community Affairs committee, on which he sits. See Local bipartisan opposition page A9
Diane Gullett resigns as MCPS superintendent In her five-year tenure, the county public schools’ leader navigated reinstituting impact fees and a half-cent sales tax, and challenges building new schools.
Superintendent of Marion County Public Schools Diane Gullett speaks during the Howard Academy Community Center Black History Museum Archives Gala at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, during which many principals and assistance principals were honored. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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arion County Public Schools Superintendent Diane Gullet has announced she is resigning after five years in office. She said she will be leaving after the end of her contract, on July 11. Gullet, who earned her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s in elementary education from the University of Florida, previously served as an administrator in Orange County Public Schools for 19 years. “It has been my privilege to lead with such an exceptional team and I am proud of the work we have accomplished to set our district on a path for future success that out students, employees and community deserves,” Gullet wrote in her resignation letter to the school See Diane Gullett, page A3
Marilyn Oakie is shown with her late son, Jacob Oakie, who died from meningitis on July 28, 2024, in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office [Supplied photo].
Family seeks answers in the death of 39-year-old inmate MCSO records reflect medical neglect and use of force led to hospitalization. By Jennifer & Caroline
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acob Oakie, 39, of Ocala, died last year in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office after developing pneumococcal meningitis. He was delivered by EMS from the jail’s infirmary run by Heart of Florida to Adventhealth ICU by local EMS. Two hours before his hospital transport, records show MCSO staff had pepper sprayed Oakie in the infirmary, then “decontaminated” him in the shower. Oakie was treated for respiratory problems and brain swelling at the hospital, according to MCSO records. Within hours of hearing of Oakie’s condition on a Friday evening, his mother and brother flew thousands of miles from Arizona to the Ocala hospital. Within 48 hours, they would have to make the painful decision to remove him from life support.
“He was unconscious and chained to the bed when we got there. Still, depending on which deputy was on duty we were only allowed in the room with him 30 minutes a day. So, we watched Jacob from the glass wall of the ICU. The doctors and nurses really fought for us to be there, and I’m grateful to them for that because the sheriff ’s office treated me and my mother like we were criminals,” said brother Dennis Oakie. cerated use Dennis Oakie said the family had tried to help Jacob battle his addiction, sometimes f lying him to Arizona for treatment, but Jacob kept falling back into his addiction. Oakie spoke to his mother nearly every day in jail, so when five days went by without hearing from him, the family grew concerned. “He kept complaining of an earache
and that he couldn’t get treatment for the pain. All of those calls were recorded, aren’t they? If you can get copies of those calls, you’ll get an idea of how long he was without care,” Dennis Oakie suggested to the Gazette. Dennis Oakie said the family was not told until the “Gazette” shared MCSO records with them that Jacob had been pepper sprayed and subject to force from prison guards shortly before being delivered to the hospital.Oakie began showing signs of the deadly disease a month after being incarcerated on June 20, 2024, but was only treated for “a common cold,’’ records show. Those treatments began on July 19, and he died 9 days later after his mother and brother traveled from Arizona and gave consent to remove him from a ventilator. See Inmate, page A2
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INSIDE:
Askew retires................................. A3 New cantor..................................... A6 Inspire Gala................................... B1 Levitt Amp...................................... B2 Calendar......................................... B6
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