Commissioner Matlow: “I am going to run for Mayor…”

On April 6th, 2025, Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow appeared on The Sean Pittman Show, which airs every Sunday morning at 9:30 am on 96.1 JAMZ. During his appearance, Matlow confirmed that he plans to run for Tallahassee mayor in the 2026.

Commissioner Matlow described his background as a small business owner largely drives his decision making and how he understands city government. He continued, speaking on how his business experiences impact his influence on the budget, always trying to find places to save money and ensuring low-income employees are always being treated fairly.

Sean Pittman and Commissioner Matlow spoke for a majority of the show about affordable housing in Tallahassee. Commissioner Matlow grew up with a single mother on the southside of Tallahassee in poverty, and he describes this issue is one of the most important to him. He recounts that there isn’t a market to build houses for the lowest wage individuals, but working with developers, giving them incentives and credits to make new housing affordable.

Matlow also discussed how fast-moving things can be, “We can spend a year trying to create 100 affordable units, and 100 units can be unaffordable in a blink of an eye.” Matlow noted that it is important to focus on what the city can do for extremely low incoming housing and avoiding forcing individuals to leave Tallahassee because there are no affordable housing choices for them.

Their discussion then shifted to revitalizing Downtown Tallahassee, with Commissioner Matlow pointing out Cascades Park as an amazing first step. He expressed interest in exploring different ways to expand the downtown into more than just an area that is populated during the legislative session and football season. Commissioner Matlow wants Downtown to be a destination for tourists.

Near the end of the show, Sean Pittman and Commissioner Matlow discuss Matlow’s future political plans. Pittman highlighted Matlow’s recent efforts to repair relationships damaged during recent bruising city commission election cycles. Pittman asked if he was doing this because he was running for mayor, Matlow responded, “I am going to run for Mayor, but I’m not doing it because I’m running for mayor.”