Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow’s aide, Ryan Ray, created a political website in 2024 and is now using the site during his boss’s run for mayor of Tallahassee to criticize Matlow’s opponents – Loranne Ausley and Daryl Parks – and to support candidates friendly to the progressive movement.
Ray is paid approximately $90,000 annually by the city of Tallahassee and is also the head of the Leon County Democratic party.
When recently asked about his connection to the site he denied any current involvement but added that there are a number of people running the site. However, sources have told TR Ray is the main force behind the site.
Also, days after TR questioned Ray, he authored a story on the site critical of TR.
The Florida New Signal Criticize Ausley, Parks
The website, www, flnewsignal.com, was created by Ray in 2024 with the goal to be a “news site to cover the Sunshine State.” However, a review of the site shows little content related to “Sunshine State” cities other than Tallahassee.
The home page shows tabs for Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Miami. However, a review of the site’s 2026 content shows 12 stories related to Tallahassee politics, one story related to Gainesville, and no stories under the Miami tab.
In addition, the Tallahassee stories are focused on supporting Matlow, PJ Perez and Dot Inman-Johnson and criticizing fellow Democrats.
For example, a recent story criticized Matlow’s opponents, Loranne Ausley and Daryl Parks, response to a question about LGBTQ rights.
In another post, related to city commission seat 3, an article states that a Democrat candidate was “honored by the Tallahassee Chamber several times” and was “Chambered Up” as a way to smear the candidate and support the progressive’s preferred candidate, PJ Perez.
Ryan Ray’s Activities
Over the years there has been a number of critical questions raised about the Ray’s activities given his compensated duties with the city of Tallahassee and his role with the Leon County Democratic Party. His recent activities related to Matlow’s run for mayor raises these questions once again.
Is Ray’s political activities funded by his $90,000 a year city of Tallahassee salary?
Does his boss, Matlow approve of these activities?
And as the head of the Leon Democratic Party, is his criticism of other Democratic candidates in favor of Matlow a violation of party rules?
City Policy on Social Media Use
The City of Tallahassee has adopted policies related to private social media use. The policy states “Employees are expected to be truthful, courteous, and respectful toward supervisors, co-workers, citizens, customers, and other persons associated with the City. Employees shall not engage in name-calling or personal attacks or other such demeaning behavior.”
The city notes the policy “If you identify yourself as a City of Tallahassee employee or have a public facing position for which your City of Tallahassee association is known to the general public, ensure your profile and related content (even if it is personal and not an official nature) is consistent with how you wish to present yourself as a City of Tallahassee professional.”
TR will continue to investigate this issue.
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