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<\/a><\/p>\nFor more than four years, comments posted under anonymous screen names on Tallahassee Reports took aim at a wide range of prominent local political figures, elected officials and community leaders. The comments were often personal, sarcastic and sharply critical, while at other times displaying detailed knowledge of Tallahassee\u2019s political relationships and controversies.<\/p>\n
Tallahassee Reports\u2019 investigation has identified the commenter as Ryan Ray, a City of Tallahassee employee who also serves as chairman of the Leon County Democratic Party and has worked as an aide to City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow. The table below presents a selection of the comments attributed to Ray, organized by the individuals who were discussed.<\/p>\n
The comments span from December 2020 through October 2024 and target people across the political spectrum. Among those discussed are City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, County Commissioners Rick Minor and Bill Proctor, State Rep. Allison Tant, State Attorney Jack Campbell, School Board members Darryl Jones and Laurie Cox, political consultant Jon Ausman, former County Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley and others.<\/p>\n
Some comments amounted to conventional political criticism. Others were considerably more personal. Richardson was ridiculed over his age and mental acuity and told that \u201cNobody will miss Curtis when he\u2019s gone.\u201d Minor was called a \u201cclassic spineless career politician,\u201d while Ausman was attacked over his personal life and described as having \u201cno credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The significance of the comments is not simply their harsh tone. They were published behind a collection of screen names that presented themselves to TR readers as independent voices. The following excerpts allow readers to examine, in Ray\u2019s own words, what those anonymous identities were saying about some of Tallahassee\u2019s most recognizable public figures.<\/p>\n
Adam Jacobs<\/p>\n
A comment also raises questions about the source of information Commissioner Jeremy Matlow later used in a public attack on City Manager Reese Goad. On Nov. 12, 2023, a comment attributed by TR\u2019s investigation to Ryan Ray stated flatly, \u201cAdam Jacobs is also Reese Goad\u2019s son in law.\u201d The claim was wrong: Goad\u2019s son-in-law is Jacob Adams, not City employee Adam Jacobs. More than two years later, Matlow publicly accused Goad and Jacobs of nepotism and \u201cpublic corruption\u201d while criticizing the city\u2019s handling of a federal housing grant. After learning the two men were not related, Matlow apologized to Goad, Jacobs and Adams for the mistaken identification. The earlier anonymous comment is significant because it contains the same unusual name mix-up\u2014Adam Jacobs for Jacob Adams\u2014that later appeared in Matlow\u2019s accusation. The records reviewed by TR do not establish that Matlow obtained the information directly from Ray or from the anonymous comment. However, the identical error provides a potential link to the origin of the false information and raises the question of whether the November 2023 comment was an early source, or reflected information circulating among Matlow\u2019s political associates, that ultimately found its way into Matlow\u2019s May 2026 allegations.<\/p>\n