{"id":393659,"date":"2026-09-08T12:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393659\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:56:08","slug":"on-the-clock-part-2-anonymous-comments-targeted-matlow-opponents-supported-political-allies-tallahassee-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393659\/","title":{"rendered":"ON THE CLOCK \u2014 PART 2: Anonymous Comments Targeted Matlow Opponents, Supported Political Allies \u2013 Tallahassee Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

The anonymous political activity detailed in Part 1 of Tallahassee Reports\u2019 \u201cOn the Clock\u201d investigation<\/a> and attributed to Leon County Democratic Party Chair and City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow\u2019s aide Ryan Ray repeatedly promoted Matlow and Commissioner Jack Porter, attacked other members of the Tallahassee City Commission and, at times, advocated for or against candidates seeking public office.<\/p>\n

TR\u2019s cross-check of the anonymous comments against City payroll records found repeated criticism of Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox during periods when Ray\u2019s timecards show him working his regular City schedule. <\/p>\n

Some comments went beyond policy disagreements. NE Moderate predicted Richardson would lose reelection and said Williams-Cox would not be viable for mayor, while other workday comments described the commission majority as \u201cdrunk on power,\u201d accused it of \u201cpetty tyrannical power,\u201d and portrayed Williams-Cox as a political \u201cdisappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

TR\u2019s review found that some of Ray\u2019s anonymous attacks on fellow commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox were posted during days when the City Commission or related City governing boards were scheduled to meet and when Ray was being paid by the City.<\/p>\n

These findings take on added significance following a controversy during the 2026<\/a> city elections involving another attempt to influence local political debate without initially disclosing who was behind the message. In July, a Facebook page formerly called \u201cPause the TMH Deal \u2014 Vote No on December 10th\u201d was renamed \u201cTallahassee Conservatives\u201d and used to distribute material critical of City Commission candidate Talethia Edwards, a Democrat competing against PJ Perez and other candidates for Seat 3.<\/p>\n

At the time, Matlow was supporting Perez, and Kristellys Estanga was serving as campaign manager for both Matlow and Perez.<\/p>\n

After questions were raised about the page, Estanga acknowledged responsibility for the operation and resigned from both campaigns. She said she acted alone. Matlow denied involvement and said his campaign had no connection to the page. <\/p>\n

The episode provides important context for what TR found when it examined the substance of the NE Moderate comments. Years before the Facebook controversy, an anonymous account was using the Tallahassee Reports comment section to promote a remarkably consistent political message.<\/p>\n

The targets and beneficiaries were often clear.<\/p>\n

Richardson Becomes a Target<\/p>\n

Commissioner Curtis Richardson received some of NE Moderate\u2019s most direct electoral criticism. When Richardson announced his reelection campaign in July 2023, NE Moderate responded: \u201cVoted 3x to raise property taxes in 2023? No thanks Curtis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other comments predicted Richardson would lose because of his tax votes. One stated that his votes \u201cwill kill him with conservatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another said Porter would be reelected while \u201cCurtis will struggle and probably lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing is important.<\/p>\n

On July 19, 2023 \u2014 the day TR published Richardson\u2019s reelection announcement \u2014 NE Moderate posted three comments during the 8-to-5 period, including one at 2:54 p.m. The following day, comments appeared at 11:24 a.m. and 1:58 p.m.<\/p>\n

City payroll records reviewed by TR show Ray working his normal City schedule during that week.<\/p>\n

The comments therefore present one of the clearest intersections identified in the investigation: a City Commission employee, using an anonymous identity attributed to him by TR, commenting about the reelection prospects of one of his boss\u2019s fellow commissioners during periods overlapping his documented City workday.<\/p>\n

Richardson was not the only elected commissioner targeted.<\/p>\n

NE Moderate repeatedly grouped Richardson with Mayor John Dailey and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, often labeling the three according to their votes on taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDianne Williams-Cox, Curtis Richardson and John Dailey are raising our property taxes,\u201d one comment stated before also criticizing City management and the police chief.<\/p>\n

Another called the three the \u201cTax Hike Three.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rhetoric sometimes moved beyond disagreement over votes. NE Moderate referred to Dailey and other commissioners as \u201cChambercrats,\u201d described the opposing City Commission majority as \u201cdeveloper-controlled,\u201d and accused Tallahassee\u2019s political establishment of supporting \u201cgraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

One comment called Dailey a \u201cdisingenuous career politician.\u201d Another labeled him \u201cTax and spend Dailey.\u201d Elsewhere, the account referred to Dailey as \u201cMayor Flintstone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams-Cox was similarly targeted. After discussing one of her tax votes, NE Moderate wrote: \u201cShame on her, Curtis and Dailey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The account\u2019s framing was remarkably stable: Matlow and Porter were generally depicted as reformers or taxpayer advocates, while Dailey, Richardson and Williams-Cox were repeatedly associated with higher taxes, developers, the Chamber of Commerce, police-union spending or what NE Moderate characterized as the City Hall establishment.<\/p>\n

Matlow and Porter Praised<\/p>\n

NE Moderate repeatedly portrayed Matlow and Porter as reformers fighting what the account characterized as Tallahassee\u2019s political establishment. In one comment, NE Moderate wrote that \u201cMatlow is clearly the leader\u201d and praised Porter and Matlow for opposing a proposed tax increase. Another declared: \u201cPorter and Matlow the only commissioners doing real work and not rubber stamping public giveaways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The support became particularly explicit after Porter announced her 2024 reelection campaign.<\/p>\n

On March 7, 2023, NE Moderate praised Porter and Matlow for opposing a previous property-tax increase and said the two \u201cdeserve a lot of credit.\u201d The previous evening, the account had been even more direct about Porter: \u201cFour more years of disrupting the crooked City Hall status quo!\u201d<\/p>\n

That was not simply commentary about a policy position. Porter was a candidate for reelection.<\/p>\n

And when Rudy Ferguson later emerged as a challenger to Porter, NE Moderate\u2019s tone changed dramatically.<\/p>\n

After TR reported Ferguson\u2019s candidacy in May 2023, the account mocked his campaign and questioned the people supporting it. One comment referred to a developer political figure as a \u201cmoney man,\u201d called Ferguson\u2019s campaign announcement \u201ca joke\u201d and asked whether Ferguson supported a tax increase.<\/p>\n

In March 2024, NE Moderate was more succinct about Ferguson: \u201cRev. Rudy supports property tax increase. No thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political pattern was consistent: praise Porter, criticize her challenger.<\/p>\n

An Anonymous \u201cModerate\u201d<\/p>\n

There was another feature of the account that may have increased its political usefulness. The screen name was not \u201cMatlow Supporter,\u201d \u201cProgressive Democrat\u201d or \u201cLeon Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was NE Moderate.<\/p>\n

Comments were frequently written from what appeared to be a conservative or center-right perspective. For example, the account argued that Porter and Matlow were actually \u201cmore conservative\u201d on taxes and government spending than the commissioners it called \u201cChambercrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another comment argued that Porter was \u201cmuch more in line with our interests and values\u201d than the Tallahassee Police Department and police union.<\/p>\n

The account also discussed Republican politics, Trump, DeSantis and the Leon County Republican Party.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the comments could leave readers with the impression that an independent northeast Tallahassee moderate or conservative was arriving at conclusions favorable to Matlow and Porter.<\/p>\n

TR\u2019s investigation concludes the person behind that identity was instead Ray \u2014 Matlow\u2019s taxpayer-funded aide, who later became chairman of the Leon County Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

That distinction is central to the investigation.<\/p>\n

The issue is not whether Ray was entitled to hold political opinions. Public employees retain political rights, including the ability to participate in politics during their personal time.<\/p>\n

The question is whether readers evaluating supposedly independent political commentary were actually reading anonymous advocacy from a City Commission aide closely connected to one side of the political disputes being discussed.<\/p>\n

A Broader Political Operation<\/p>\n

The NE Moderate activity also fits into a broader pattern of Ray\u2019s political involvement.<\/p>\n

TR previously reported that Ray created the Florida New Signal website in 2024.<\/a> During the 2026 election cycle, the site published material supportive of Matlow and other candidates associated with Tallahassee\u2019s progressive political network while criticizing some of their opponents. Ray told TR that multiple people were running the site and denied current involvement when initially questioned about it.<\/p>\n

Ray also became chairman of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee in late 2022. That means Ray occupied several roles over the period examined: City Commission aide, Democratic Party official and participant in political-media activity.<\/p>\n

The significance of NE Moderate is that the role was concealed from the readers participating in the discussion.<\/p>\n

With the 2026 Facebook episode, users encountered a page named \u201cTallahassee Conservatives\u201d publishing material critical of Edwards. The person who eventually accepted responsibility was simultaneously managing the campaigns of Matlow and Edwards\u2019 opponent, Perez.<\/p>\n

These events the unanswered questions surrounding NE Moderate more consequential.<\/p>\n

Was Commissioner Matlow aware that his aide was anonymously defending him and attacking fellow commissioners?<\/p>\n

Did he know Ray was commenting about active City Commission campaigns while being paid by the City?<\/p>\n

Did other members of Tallahassee\u2019s progressive political network know who NE Moderate was?<\/p>\n

And, critically, did any of that activity occur while Ray was on duty as a City employee?<\/p>\n

Part 1 established that a substantial portion of the comments occurred during weekday working hours and that numerous comments overlap with Ray\u2019s documented City workdays. The political content examined in Part 2 shows that some of those comments were not merely discussions of public policy. They included praise for political allies, criticism of elected commissioners and advocacy concerning candidates for City office.<\/p>\n

That distinction leads to the next part of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Florida law expressly addresses political campaign activity by employees of state and local government while on duty, while protecting their ability to participate politically while off duty.<\/p>\n

Coming in Part 3: The Rules \u2014 what Florida law and City of Tallahassee policies say about political activity by public employees, and whether the conduct documented in the NE Moderate investigation could fall within those restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The anonymous political activity detailed in Part 1 of Tallahassee Reports\u2019 \u201cOn the Clock\u201d investigation and attributed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-393659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}