The Leon County Commission will receive an update on the effort at its September 15 meeting. County staff reports Leon County has completed the pre-qualification phase for the 2029 championships and has been approved by World Athletics to submit a formal bid.

The effort follows Tallahassee-Leon County’s successful hosting of the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Apalachee Regional Park. The one-day competition marked the first time the championships had been held in the United States since Boston hosted the event in 1992.

According to the county, the January event generated an estimated $6.09 million in local tourism economic impact and drew 15,262 attendees, including 10,900 visitors from outside Leon County. Fifty-seven percent of those visitors were making their first trip to Leon County.

County officials also point to the international exposure generated by the championships. The event was broadcast in 70 countries and federations and generated approximately 950 articles and stories worldwide. Nielsen calculated the event’s global impact at $24.5 million, which the county says was the highest recorded for a World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

The success has prompted discussions about a larger role for Leon County.

On August 5, County Chairman Christian Caban, County Administrator Vincent Long and county staff met with World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and CEO Jon Ridgeon in Eugene, Oregon. The discussions included Leon County’s 2029 bid and the possibility of a long-term hosting arrangement.

According to the agenda item, World Athletics is considering enhancements to the championships beyond 2030 and discussed using Leon County as a potential pilot location for a new hosting model.

Under such an arrangement, Leon County could assume responsibility for transportation, logistics, volunteers, venue operations, athlete experience and community engagement, while World Athletics would retain responsibility for governance and competition standards.

In the meantime, the county faces several deadlines in its pursuit of the 2029 championships. The initial bid application is due October 23, 2026, followed by a final application on January 29, 2027. World Athletics is expected to select the 2029 host in March 2027.

County staff is developing the bid package, including plans for a new course at Apalachee Regional Park, accommodations, transportation, finances, event operations and marketing.

The agenda item has no immediate fiscal impact. If Leon County wins the 2029 championships, staff would return to commissioners with proposed hosting costs.

Since 2013, Apalachee Regional Park has hosted more than 75 local, state, regional and national championships and meets, attracted more than 80,000 athletes and runners, and generated more than $84 million in direct spending, according to county estimates.

The proposal originated with County Commission Chairman Christian Caban, who raised the issue in June and called for a temporary pause while county officials study the potential impacts of large-scale data centers on electricity and water supplies, utility rates, the environment and surrounding communities.

The proposed ordinance would temporarily halt the acceptance, review and approval of certain development applications involving large-load facilities in unincorporated Leon County. The pause would apply to development permits, development orders, rezonings and site plans while county officials develop regulations addressing the potential impacts of such facilities.

County commissioners directed staff in July to pursue the moratorium following the passage of Senate Bill 484, which took effect July 1. The new state law highlights planning, infrastructure and compatibility issues associated with facilities that have substantial electric or other utility demands.

According to the county, neither the Leon County Development Code nor the Tallahassee-Leon County 2050 Comprehensive Plan currently contains specific provisions addressing large-load customers or data centers. County staff says the moratorium would provide time to study potential impacts and develop amendments before applications are received.

The proposed moratorium is not a permanent prohibition. County staff reports there are currently no approved or pending applications for large-scale data centers in unincorporated Leon County.

Among the issues expected to be evaluated are impacts on economic development and tax revenue, land and water resources, energy consumption and utility rates, and public health and safety. A state-required independent study addressing many of the same issues is due by July 1, 2027.

The county proposal also comes amid questions about the ability of the area’s existing electric infrastructure to accommodate a large data center. During a June City Commission meeting, then-City Manager Reese Goad said neither the Comprehensive Plan nor city code permitted large-scale data centers and that additional electric-generating capacity would be needed to accommodate such a facility.

The moratorium would apply only to unincorporated Leon County and would not be countywide.

County staff recommends commissioners conduct the first hearing and schedule the second and final public hearing for Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. The Sept. 15 hearing is required before the ordinance can be adopted.

The Sept. 9 vote applies not only to cameras supplied by Flock Safety, but also to other automated license plate recognition, or ALPR, technology used by the Tallahassee Police Department. TPD has been operating two ALPR systems — 80 Flock cameras and 75 Vigilant cameras — for a total of 155 cameras, according to information previously provided to commissioners.

The distinction is significant: Flock Safety is a company, while ALPR refers to the broader technology that photographs license plates and vehicle characteristics and makes the information searchable by law enforcement.

The unanimous decision represents a significant change from the commission’s Aug. 26 meeting. At that meeting, Commissioner Jeremy Matlow moved to begin removing the Flock cameras, with Commissioner Jack Porter supporting the effort. The proposal failed on a 3-2 vote, with Mayor John Dailey and commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson supporting continued use of the technology.

Since then, the political and regulatory landscape surrounding license plate readers has changed rapidly.

The Florida Department of Transportation recently moved to revoke permits for ALPR cameras located on state highway rights-of-way and said it would no longer issue new permits. The state cited the rapid expansion of the systems along with concerns about misuse, data privacy and surveillance. Gov. Ron DeSantis has also said use of the technology had “gotten out of control.”

Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil separately suspended the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s use of ALPR technology while seeking stronger oversight and accreditation standards.

Williams-Cox said Wednesday that the city should follow the Sheriff’s Office and provide consistency in how the technology is handled locally.

The vote came despite TPD’s defense of the technology. Police officials have maintained that ALPR systems are valuable investigative tools that can help identify stolen vehicles, locate suspects and assist investigators in serious crimes. TPD had also outlined safeguards governing access to the system and recently joined LCSO in launching public transparency portals related to the technology.

But concerns over privacy, data sharing and potential misuse have fueled growing opposition locally and nationally. More than a dozen speakers addressed commissioners Wednesday and urged the city to discontinue the technology.

Matlow argued that public pressure was responsible for changing the outcome.

“This decision is only changing because of you,” Matlow told speakers, according to reporting on the meeting.

Matlow sought to go further, proposing that the cameras be physically covered within 24 hours and removed within 30 days. That proposal failed 3-2.

Instead, City Manager Reese Goad said the cameras would be turned off, preventing the city or others from accessing them through the system. The approach mirrors the Sheriff’s Office’s suspension of its cameras.

The action therefore amounts to a suspension rather than permanent removal. The cameras may remain physically in place for now, leaving open the possibility that commissioners could revisit the issue if new state rules, accreditation standards or other safeguards are developed.

For Tallahassee, the Sept. 9 vote marks a rapid reversal in a debate that has shifted from whether the city should use Flock cameras to the broader question of whether government should operate interconnected license plate-reading systems at all.

According to records obtained by TR, James McAllister submitted two separate requests to the Orlando Police Department seeking information concerning Edwards and a July 4, 2024 incident.

The first request, submitted April 28, 2026, sought “documentation and body camera footage” related to a traffic stop involving Edwards.

A second request, submitted July 8, sought records concerning Edwards’ claim that she received an apology from the Orlando mayor’s office and parking enforcement following a parking citation and vehicle towing.

The records establish that McAllister sought the Edwards information months before the fake Facebook controversy became public. However, the documents obtained by TR do not establish why McAllister requested the information, whether anyone asked him to obtain it, whom he shared it with, or whether his requests had any connection to the Facebook page.

The identity of the requester nevertheless adds information to the public record surrounding a political controversy that erupted during Tallahassee’s 2026 city elections.

Information involving Edwards surfaced through a Facebook page that presented itself as a conservative political operation. The page was subsequently linked to the campaign of mayoral candidate and City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow.

Matlow campaign manager Kris Estanga ultimately took responsibility for the operation and resigned from the campaign. Estanga said she acted independently.

The Orlando records obtained by TR do not show that Matlow, Estanga, P.J. Perez, Ryan Ray or anyone associated with their campaigns directed McAllister to request the Edwards records. Nor do the documents show that McAllister provided the records to Estanga or anyone involved with the Facebook page.

McAllister’s Political Connections

Campaign finance information compiled by TR shows McAllister contributed to both Matlow and City Commission candidate P.J. Perez during the same general period in which the Edwards records were being requested.

McAllister gave Matlow $500 on April 30 — two days after his first Orlando Police Department request — and another $440 on May 29.

He also made several contributions to Perez, including $500 on May 7, $190 on May 13 and $1,000 on Aug. 21. McAllister also gave $300 to the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee.

James McAllister’s wife, Cassie, contributed $2,000 to Perez during the primary and general election cycle.

Estanga also served as Perez’s campaign manager.

McAllister has also written for Florida New Signal, a political news website founded by Ryan Ray, a longtime Matlow aide and chairman of the Leon County Democratic Party.

Material reviewed by TR lists three McAllister articles published by Florida New Signal during the campaign season, including a July 29 article titled “Right-Wing Money Targets Jeremy Matlow in Mayor’s Race.” Other articles addressed judicial politics and candidate-related controversies.

These documented political relationships provide additional context about McAllister’s involvement in local politics but do not, by themselves, establish a connection between his Orlando records requests and the fake Facebook operation.

A Timeline of Records and Political Activity

The timing of McAllister’s records requests overlaps with his political contributions and writing during the 2026 campaign.

McAllister made his first Edwards records request on April 28. Two days later, campaign finance records show he contributed $500 to Matlow.

His second request was submitted July 8. Later that month, Florida New Signal published his article concerning outside political spending in the mayor’s race.

Those dates establish that McAllister was researching Edwards-related matters while also participating in Tallahassee politics through campaign contributions and political writing.

What the documents do not establish is a link between those activities. TR has found no record showing that McAllister obtained the Edwards information at the request of Estanga, Matlow, Perez, Ray or anyone associated with the Facebook page. The records reviewed by TR also do not establish that McAllister provided the information he obtained to any of those individuals.

Unanswered Questions

The public records do not explain why McAllister sought the Edwards records or what he did with the information after receiving it.

Tallahassee Reports asked McAllister if he was involved with the “Fake” Facebook controversy. McAllister declined to answer TR’s questions.

As a result, the purpose of McAllister’s records requests and what happened to the information after he obtained it remain unknown. The documents establish that McAllister sought Edwards-related records from the Orlando Police Department before the fake Facebook controversy became public. They also establish his campaign contributions and political activities described above.

The proposed contract would run from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031, and includes 20 weeks of severance pay, a $1,000 monthly automobile allowance and a city contribution to a 457 retirement account.

Perhaps the most consequential provision deals with termination.

Under the proposed agreement, Jumonville could only be removed by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the City Commission. With five commissioners, that would effectively require four votes to terminate the city manager rather than the three votes needed for most commission actions.

According to the city, the provision mirrors the employment terms of Tallahassee’s Inspector General. The remainder of the agreement is based on contracts used for the city’s appointed officials.

The contract comes one week after a divided City Commission selected Jumonville as the successor to longtime City Manager Reese Goad.

On Sept. 2, commissioners voted 3-2 to select Jumonville following public interviews with three finalists identified through a nationwide search. The commission then directed the mayor to negotiate an employment agreement for consideration at its Sept. 9 meeting.

Jumonville currently serves as Tallahassee’s deputy city manager and previously served as assistant city manager and Growth Management director.

The selection followed a search that began after Goad announced on April 28 that he would retire effective Sept. 30 or upon selection of his successor. Goad has served as city manager since September 2018 after being named interim manager in November 2017.

Tallahassee Reports’ 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.

ON THE CLOCK — PART 1: The Comments – Tallahassee Reports

ON THE CLOCK — PART 2: Comments Targeted Matlow Opponents, Supported Political Allies – Tallahassee Reports

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.

Some comments amounted to conventional political criticism. Others were considerably more personal. Richardson was ridiculed over his age and mental acuity and told that “Nobody will miss Curtis when he’s gone.” Minor was called a “classic spineless career politician,” while Ausman was attacked over his personal life and described as having “no credibility.”

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’s own words, what those anonymous identities were saying about some of Tallahassee’s most recognizable public figures.

Adam Jacobs

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’s investigation to Ryan Ray stated flatly, “Adam Jacobs is also Reese Goad’s son in law.” The claim was wrong: Goad’s 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 “public corruption” while criticizing the city’s 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—Adam Jacobs for Jacob Adams—that later appeared in Matlow’s 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’s political associates, that ultimately found its way into Matlow’s May 2026 allegations.

TR’s 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’s timecards show him working his regular City schedule.

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 “drunk on power,” accused it of “petty tyrannical power,” and portrayed Williams-Cox as a political “disappointment.”

TR’s review found that some of Ray’s 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.

These findings take on added significance following a controversy during the 2026 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 “Pause the TMH Deal — Vote No on December 10th” was renamed “Tallahassee Conservatives” and used to distribute material critical of City Commission candidate Talethia Edwards, a Democrat competing against PJ Perez and other candidates for Seat 3.

At the time, Matlow was supporting Perez, and Kristellys Estanga was serving as campaign manager for both Matlow and Perez.

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.

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. And the targets and beneficiaries were often clear.

An Anonymous “Moderate”

Deception was another feature of the account that may have increased its political usefulness. The screen name was not “Matlow Supporter,” “Progressive Democrat” or “Leon Democrats.” It was NE Moderate.

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 “more conservative” on taxes and government spending than the commissioners it called “Chambercrats.”

Another comment argued that Porter was “much more in line with our interests and values” than the Tallahassee Police Department and police union.

The account also discussed Republican politics, Trump, DeSantis and the Leon County Republican Party.

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.

However, the person behind that identity was instead Ray — Matlow’s taxpayer-funded aide, who later became chairman of the Leon County Democratic Party.

That distinction is central to the investigation.

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.

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 while being paid by taxpayers.

Richardson Becomes a Target

Commissioner Curtis Richardson received some of NE Moderate’s most direct electoral criticism. When Richardson announced his reelection campaign in July 2023, NE Moderate responded: “Voted 3x to raise property taxes in 2023? No thanks Curtis.”

Other comments predicted Richardson would lose because of his tax votes. One stated that his votes “will kill him with conservatives.”

Another said Porter would be reelected while “Curtis will struggle and probably lose.”

The timing is important.

On July 19, 2023 — the day TR published Richardson’s reelection announcement — 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.

City payroll records reviewed by TR show Ray working his normal City schedule during that week.

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’s fellow commissioners during periods overlapping his documented City workday.

Richardson was not the only elected commissioner targeted.

NE Moderate repeatedly grouped Richardson with Mayor John Dailey and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, often labeling the three according to their votes on taxes without disclosing the funding would be allocated to law enforcement.

The rhetoric sometimes moved beyond disagreement over votes. NE Moderate referred to Dailey and other commissioners as “Chambercrats,” described the opposing City Commission majority as “developer-controlled,” and accused Tallahassee’s political establishment of supporting “graft.”

One comment called Dailey a “disingenuous career politician.” Another labeled him “Tax and spend Dailey.” Elsewhere, the account referred to Dailey as “Mayor Flintstone.”

Williams-Cox was similarly targeted. After discussing one of her tax votes to increase public safety funding, NE Moderate wrote: “Shame on her, Curtis and Dailey.”

The account’s 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.

Matlow and Porter Praised

NE Moderate repeatedly portrayed Matlow and Porter as reformers fighting what the account characterized as Tallahassee’s political establishment. In one comment, NE Moderate wrote that “Matlow is clearly the leader” and praised Porter and Matlow for opposing a proposed tax increase. Another declared: “Porter and Matlow the only commissioners doing real work and not rubber stamping public giveaways.”

The support became particularly explicit after Porter announced her 2024 reelection campaign.

On March 7, 2023, NE Moderate praised Porter and Matlow for opposing a previous property-tax increase and said the two “deserve a lot of credit.” The previous evening, the account had been even more direct about Porter: “Four more years of disrupting the crooked City Hall status quo!”

That was not simply commentary about a policy position. Porter was a candidate for reelection.

And when Rudy Ferguson later emerged as a challenger to Porter, NE Moderate’s tone changed dramatically.

After TR reported Ferguson’s 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 “money man,” called Ferguson’s campaign announcement “a joke” and asked whether Ferguson supported a tax increase.

In March 2024, NE Moderate was more succinct about Ferguson: “Rev. Rudy supports property tax increase. No thanks.”

The political pattern was consistent: praise Porter, criticize her challenger.

A Broader Political Operation

The NE Moderate activity also fits into a broader pattern of Ray’s political involvement.

TR previously reported that Ray created the Florida New Signal website in 2024. During the 2026 election cycle, the site published material supportive of Matlow and other candidates associated with Tallahassee’s 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.

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.

The significance of NE Moderate is that the role was concealed from the readers participating in the discussion.

With the 2026 Facebook episode, users encountered a page named “Tallahassee Conservatives” publishing material critical of Edwards. The person who eventually accepted responsibility was simultaneously managing the campaigns of Matlow and Edwards’ opponent, Perez.

With these events, the unanswered questions surrounding NE Moderate more consequential.

Was Commissioner Matlow aware that his aide was anonymously defending him and attacking fellow commissioners?

Did he know Ray was commenting about active City Commission campaigns while being paid by the City?

Did other members of Tallahassee’s progressive political network know who NE Moderate was?

And, critically, did any of that activity occur while Ray was on duty as a City employee?

Part 1 established that a substantial portion of the comments occurred during weekday working hours and that numerous comments overlap with Ray’s 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.

That distinction leads to the next part of the investigation.

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.

Coming in Part 3: The Rules — 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.

The employee is Ryan Ray, Matlow’s City Commission aide and a prominent figure in local Democratic politics.

Sources familiar with the local progressive political movement, an analysis of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and other records point to Ray as the person posting under the screen name “NE Moderate” during the period examined.

For years, political insiders had speculated about the identity of NE Moderate. TR’s investigation went beyond those suspicions. TR matched comments from IP addresses outside Tallahassee with periods when records independently placed Ray in those same areas.

The investigation also uncovered a striking timing pattern that could have legal implications.

Of the 343 NE Moderate comments examined by TR, 225 — approximately 66% — were posted Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

TR then compared the comment timestamps with City payroll records for selected weeks of particularly heavy activity. Those records show numerous comments were posted during the span of Ray’s recorded City workdays.

One of the clearest examples occurred Aug. 9, 2022.

Ray’s City timecard shows that he clocked in at 8 a.m. and clocked out at 5 p.m. that day. NE Moderate posted at 8:32 a.m., followed by comments at 9:38, 9:58, 10:58, 11:02 and 11:50 a.m. Another appeared at 1:09 p.m.

Seven comments in less than five hours — all during the span of Ray’s recorded City workday.

Questions extend beyond Ray’s activity related to Tallahassee Reports.

Ray, as the head of the Leon County Democratic Party, has been responsible for political social-media activity related to the party which involves thousands of social media posts over the last two years. For example, a preliminary analysis shows from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2026, the Leon County Democratic Party X account posted 731 times. Of those, 335 posts occurred during standard workday hours — Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tallahassee local time. That means 45.8% of all posts during that six-month period were made during workday hours.

TR has begun comparing these timestamps with City payroll records and the NE Moderate comments. A preliminary review has identified days on which political social-media posts and anonymous Tallahassee Reports comments occurred during the same workday.

TR has asked Ray and Commissioner Matlow for a comment but has not received a response.

The investigation now raises several questions: Was a taxpayer-funded City employee was engaging in political activity while on City time? What was Ray saying anonymously? Did NE Moderate advocate for or against candidates for public office? How much of the activity occurred while Ray was on duty? Did Commissioner Matlow know about the activity? Were City equipment, networks or other taxpayer-funded resources involved? And did any of the activity implicate City policies or Florida laws governing political activity by public employees?

And finally, was Ray’s activities part of a broader pattern in the progressive movement of using fake or undisclosed accounts and pages to influence public opinion without revealing who is behind them.

Florida law specifically provides that an employee of the state or a political subdivision “may not participate in any political campaign for an elective office while on duty.” The same law protects a public employee’s right to express political opinions and participate in campaigns during off-duty hours. Whether particular NE Moderate comments constitute prohibited campaign participation is a legal question TR is continuing to examine.

Those issues — including what NE Moderate said about candidates, what City policies and state law require, and what Commissioner Matlow knew about his aide’s activity — will be examined in subsequent installments of this series.

343 Comments Examined

TR reviewed 343 NE Moderate comments posted between December 2018 and June 2024 and analyzed the date and time associated with each comment. The results show a striking concentration during conventional working hours.

Of the 343 comments, 225 — 65.6% — were posted Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Another 80, or 23.3%, were posted on weekdays outside those hours, while 38, or 11.1%, were posted on weekends.

The concentration increased during 2023, when NE Moderate was most active. Of 191 comments that year, 139 — 72.8% — were posted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Those numbers alone, however, could not establish that Ray was actually working when the comments appeared. Employees take vacations, use leave, work different schedules and take lunch breaks. TR therefore sought Ray’s City time records.

Timecards Compared With Comments

TR identified 14 weeks with some of the heaviest NE Moderate comment activity and obtained Ray’s City timecards for those periods. The records generally show Ray working an 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. schedule, with eight hours credited for a normal workday.

TR then compared the timestamps of NE Moderate comments with Ray’s actual time records. During those 14 weeks, NE Moderate posted 130 comments. Of those, 94 were posted Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Three of the 94 occurred Jan. 18, 2024, when Ray’s timecard shows eight hours of personal leave rather than a normal workday.

That leaves 91 comments posted during the 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. span on dates when Ray’s City timecard records him working. The City’s time records supplied to TR show the repeated 8 a.m.-5 p.m. work schedule during the periods examined.

There is an important qualification.

The timecards generally credit Ray with eight hours despite showing a nine-hour period between his 8 a.m. arrival and 5 p.m. departure. The records reviewed by TR do not identify the precise time of an unpaid meal period. For that reason, TR cannot establish that every one of the 91 comments was posted during compensated working time. But the frequency and timing of comments on several days make the activity difficult to attribute solely to a single lunch period.

Seven Comments in One Workday

Aug. 9, 2022, provides the clearest example.

Ray’s timecard records an 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. workday.

NE Moderate posted at:

8:32 a.m.
9:38 a.m.
9:58 a.m.
10:58 a.m.
11:02 a.m.
11:50 a.m.
1:09 p.m.

The underlying comment records confirm the seven timestamps. The comments were spread across nearly five hours of Ray’s recorded workday. Other high-activity dates followed a similar pattern.

On Dec. 8, 2022, NE Moderate posted five comments between 8:57 a.m. and 3:12 p.m.

On Feb. 9, 2023, five comments appeared between 8:45 a.m. and 4:34 p.m.

On April 20, 2023, four comments were posted at 10:42 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 10:50 a.m. and 2:58 p.m.

On June 26, 2023, another four appeared at 9:43 a.m., 11:58 a.m., 2:09 p.m. and 2:32 p.m.

And on Sept. 21, 2023, NE Moderate posted at 8:58 a.m., 1:27 p.m. and 1:48 p.m.

The timecards reviewed by TR show Ray working his regular City schedule on those dates.

A Political Employee

Ray was not simply an anonymous City worker. He works directly for Commissioner Matlow and became chairman of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee in December 2022. Contemporary reporting noted that Ray received support for the party position from the local progressive wing, including Matlow and Commissioner Jack Porter.

Ray’s political activities have generated controversy separate from the NE Moderate account. In 2024, City Commission candidate Rudy Ferguson filed a complaint with the Florida Democratic Party alleging that local party officials, including Ray, had taken sides in Ferguson’s race against Porter.

More recently, TR reported that Ray created the Florida New Signal website and that the site published material favorable to Matlow and other progressive candidates while criticizing their political opponents.

Those activities, standing alone, do not establish anything improper about the NE Moderate comments. Government employees retain political rights and can participate in politics on their own time.

The question raised by the newly obtained timecards is different.

What Was He Saying?

The data establish when NE Moderate was posting. They don’t answer what may be the more consequential question: What was a City Commission aide saying anonymously during those workday periods?

TR’s review found the account was not limited to debating taxes, crime, development or other public-policy questions. NE Moderate also commented on elected officials, political factions and candidates for office. In some instances, those comments appeared directly beneath stories about active election campaigns.

TR has identified workday comments praising certain City commissioners and criticizing others, including comments concerning candidates whose electoral success or defeat could alter the balance of power on the Tallahassee City Commission.

Those findings will be detailed in Part 2 of this investigation.

They also raise a separate question under Florida law.

State law protects the right of public employees to express political opinions and participate in political campaigns during their off-duty hours. But Florida law also contains a specific prohibition concerning government employees participating in campaigns while on duty.

Whether the NE Moderate activity crossed that line is a question TR will examine separately with the comments, time records and relevant Florida law.

There is another unanswered question.

What did Commissioner Jeremy Matlow know?

The records reviewed for this installment do not establish that Matlow knew Ray was operating the NE Moderate account, knew Ray was posting comments during his workday, or directed or encouraged any of the activity.

TR is seeking records and responses addressing those questions.

The distinction could be significant.

If Ray acted entirely on his own, the investigation presents one set of issues.

If City resources were used, or if others at City Hall knew about or participated in the activity, it could present another.

Coming in Part 2: What NE Moderate was saying — and which Tallahassee candidates the anonymous account supported and opposed.

One distinction highlighted in the city agenda is that Flock Safety is a company, while automated license plate recognition, or ALPR, is the technology. TPD currently uses two ALPR platforms — Flock Safety and Vigilant — with 80 Flock cameras and 75 Vigilant cameras. The fixed cameras capture license plates and associated vehicle information that investigators can search for legitimate law enforcement purposes.

The systems are also different from TPD’s public-safety video cameras. Those cameras provide video footage associated with calls for service and investigations, while ALPR cameras automatically identify and create searchable records of license plates passing the cameras.

TPD Points to Major Cases

TPD says ALPR technology has played a role in several significant investigations.

According to the agenda, investigators used ALPR information during a 2025 investigation into approximately 14 bank robberies involving suspects traveling from Texas along the Interstate 10 corridor and frequently changing license plates. The information helped investigators reconstruct vehicle movements and connect related incidents.

In another case, following a February 2025 armed robbery and double homicide at a Gadsden County convenience store, investigators identified the suspect vehicle. A Flock alert later detected the vehicle traveling through another jurisdiction, helping officers coordinate across agencies and eventually capture the suspect in Suwannee County.

TPD also reports ALPR technology contributed to resolving several attempted murder or homicide investigations between 2022 and 2026, including the November 2022 FAMU basketball court homicide and 2025 and 2026 Tallahassee homicide cases. In March 2026, officers used ALPR data to locate an elderly person with dementia who had been reported missing.

Flock provides an additional benefit because participating law enforcement agencies can share information. TPD determines which agencies may access its Flock data, while other agencies decide whether their information is available to Tallahassee investigators. That can allow investigators to follow vehicles beyond the reach of TPD-owned cameras.

Safeguards and Audits

TPD’s General Order 56 limits ALPR use to active criminal intelligence or investigative purposes. Searches require an authorized user to provide a purpose and case number, and access is controlled through individual login credentials.

The department also says an ALPR alert by itself generally does not give an officer authority to take enforcement action. Officers must visually verify the license plate and confirm the information through appropriate law enforcement databases.

Other safeguards include mandatory training, restrictions against using the system for personal interest or curiosity, and auditing of searches. Misuse can result in discipline, termination, criminal arrest or civil liability. TPD policy establishes a minimum 30-day data-retention period, subject to applicable public-records requirements.

Those auditing provisions recently received a real-world test. TPD identified 293 searches that were flagged by the system for further review. According to the city, each was investigated and determined to have been conducted for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

TPD also launched a public Flock Transparency Portal on Aug. 25 providing information about ALPR reads, searches, hits, policies and other information.

The discussion comes as other governments reconsider the technology. Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil recently suspended LCSO’s use of ALPR technology pending additional standards and oversight, while the Florida Department of Transportation has revoked permits allowing ALPR devices within state highway rights-of-way. The FDOT action does not prohibit ALPR technology generally, but requires affected cameras to be removed from state rights-of-way.

The City Commission agenda does not recommend ending TPD’s ALPR program. Instead, commissioners are being asked to provide direction on the technology’s future use as officials weigh its documented investigative benefits against concerns involving privacy, data access, retention and oversight.

Mayor John Dailey and Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox supported moving forward with Jumonville, while Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter voted against the motion. Jumonville’s contract is expected to return to the commission for final ratification on Sept. 9.

Before the final vote, Matlow and Porter, the commission’s progressive wing, proposed hiring Jumonville under a one-year contract. The proposal was rejected by the commission majority, with Dailey arguing that a short-term agreement would create instability, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

The contract debate reflected a larger disagreement that has surrounded the city manager search for months. Matlow and Porter have argued that the commission should not make a long-term appointment shortly before the November elections, which could change the makeup of the five-member board. WFSU reported that the two commissioners said Wednesday that the process had been rushed and could result in instability if the incoming commission wants a different manager.

The commission majority has rejected that argument, maintaining that the current commission has a responsibility to select a permanent replacement for retiring City Manager Reese Goad.

Jumonville was one of three finalists recommended by S. Renée Narloch & Associates, the firm hired by the city for $30,000 to conduct the nationwide search. The other finalists were Scott Andrews, former county manager of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and Valerie Washington, assistant city manager in Fort Worth, Texas.

As previously reported by Tallahassee Reports, the three finalists emerged from 37 applicants representing nine states and the District of Columbia. The applicant pool included 13 current or former city and county managers and five deputy or assistant city managers.

Jumonville brings considerably more Tallahassee experience than the other finalists. She joined city government in 1999 and was promoted to deputy city manager in March 2025 after serving as an assistant city manager since 2022. She previously headed the city’s Growth Management Department and was the first woman to serve as its director.

As deputy city manager, Jumonville oversees departments with a combined budget exceeding $270 million and approximately 700 employees. The city manager is responsible for a much larger organization — nearly 4,000 employees, a roughly $1.2 billion operating and capital budget, six municipal utilities, the Tallahassee Police Department, fire services, parks and recreation and Tallahassee International Airport.

During her presentation to commissioners, Jumonville emphasized both her experience and the responsibility that comes with the position.

“I understand first hand the significance of this position, its importance to the community and the extraordinary responsibility that comes with it,” Jumonville said, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. She said her focus would include aligning city spending with priorities established by the commission.

At Tuesday’s public meet-and-greet, Jumonville told WFSU that she would focus on “fiscal stewardship” while fostering the city’s “one team mentality and culture.”

Jumonville will replace Goad, who announced earlier this year that he would retire effective Sept. 30 or when his successor is selected. Goad has served as city manager since 2018 and had previously endorsed Jumonville as a strong candidate for the position.

The QCEW figures show Leon County’s average employment increased from 164,916 during the first quarter of 2025 to 166,490 during the first quarter of 2026. The addition of 1,574 jobs represented a 1.0% increase.

Among the 27 Florida counties with average employment exceeding 75,000, Leon ranked 10th in percentage job growth. Only 13 of the 27 counties added jobs, while 14 recorded declines.

St. Johns County posted the strongest percentage increase at 2.5%, followed by Manatee at 1.9%, Marion at 1.8% and Pasco at 1.8%. Orange County recorded the largest numerical gain, adding 11,918 jobs for an increase of 1.3%.

By comparison, several large North Florida counties lost jobs. Employment declined 1.2% in Alachua County, 1.3% in Bay, 1.4% in Duval, 1.8% in Escambia and 1.1% in Okaloosa.

Collectively, employment among the 27 counties declined by approximately 15,200 jobs, or 0.2%. The largest numerical losses occurred in Broward County, down 8,498 jobs; Duval, down 7,984; Hillsborough, down 7,643; and Miami-Dade, down 6,326.

Leon County’s wage performance was less favorable.

Leon County’s $1,249 average weekly wage ranked 16th among the 27 Florida counties with more than 75,000 employees. Among the six large North Florida counties meeting that threshold, Leon ranked fifth—behind Duval County at $1,569, Okaloosa at $1,298, Escambia at $1,280 and Alachua at $1,276. Leon’s weekly wage exceeded only Bay County, which averaged $1,086. Thus, while Leon performed relatively well in year-over-year employment growth, its absolute wage level remained in the lower half of Florida’s large counties and near the bottom of the region’s major employment centers.

The county’s average weekly wage increased from $1,226 to $1,249, a gain of $23, or 1.9%. That ranked 24th among the 27 counties for percentage wage growth.

Brevard County recorded the largest percentage wage increase at 7.1%, followed by Palm Beach at 7.0%, Pinellas at 5.7% and Hillsborough at 5.6%. Across the 27-county group, the aggregate average weekly wage increased approximately 4.2%, from $1,427 to $1,486.

The figures indicate that Leon County compared favorably in creating or retaining jobs during the period, particularly against other North Florida employment centers. However, its comparatively modest wage increase suggests local pay growth did not keep pace with most of the state’s larger county economies.

Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, first-quarter 2025 and first-quarter 2026 data released Aug. 28, 2026. Wage figures are nominal and are not adjusted for inflation.

*Methodological Note: Unlike the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, which estimates the number of employed and unemployed county residents regardless of where they work, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) measures jobs located within a county and covered by unemployment-insurance programs. QCEW is based largely on employer payroll records and also reports wages and establishments, while LAUS is a household-based estimate used to calculate the unemployment rate and labor force. The distinction is particularly important in Leon County: commuters who live in Wakulla, Gadsden or Jefferson counties but work in Leon are counted as Leon County jobs in QCEW, but as employed residents of their home counties in LAUS. People holding multiple jobs may also appear more than once in QCEW, while LAUS counts each employed person once.

A new study by criminologists Ian T. Adams and Scott M. Mourtgos of the University of South Carolina found that motor vehicle theft declined approximately 11% in the year after law enforcement agencies deployed automated license plate reader, or ALPR, networks.

The researchers describe their study as the first rigorous evaluation of modern fixed license plate reader networks, technology that has become increasingly common through companies such as Flock Safety.

The findings come as the Leon County Sheriff’s Office has suspended its use of automated license plate recognition technology pending additional oversight, guidance or regulation from law enforcement accrediting organizations.

The national debate over the cameras has intensified following reports of law enforcement officers improperly accessing plate-reader databases. According to Adams and Mourtgos, at least 50 officers nationally have been charged with or accused of misusing plate-reader networks, including officers accused of searching for information on wives, former girlfriends and other women.

But the researchers argue that those legitimate concerns should be considered alongside emerging evidence that the technology produces measurable public-safety benefits.

Their study examined installation records from a major ALPR vendor covering 216 law enforcement agencies and compared the information with monthly crime data reported to the FBI. Another approximately 1,800 similarly sized agencies served as the control group.

The strongest finding involved vehicle theft.

During the year following deployment of ALPR cameras, motor vehicle theft declined approximately 11% relative to comparison agencies. Researchers also found that other types of property crime did not experience similar declines, providing additional evidence that the change was associated specifically with the plate readers rather than a broader reduction in crime.

The study also found that vehicle-theft clearances increased approximately 16%.

However, the researchers cautioned against attributing the entire increase to ALPRs because arrests began increasing during the months immediately before the recorded camera activation dates. Police departments sometimes purchase the systems as part of broader initiatives targeting vehicle theft, making it difficult to isolate the effect of the cameras on arrests.

Another finding involved how quickly stolen vehicles were recovered.

The cameras did not significantly increase the overall percentage of stolen vehicles eventually recovered. But among vehicles that were recovered, recovery occurred approximately six hours sooner.

That distinction illustrates both the usefulness and limitations of the technology. A plate reader can only identify a stolen vehicle if it passes a camera, its license plate is readable and has been entered on a law enforcement hot list, and an officer is available to respond. Many stolen vehicles are instead discovered by their owners or found abandoned or crashed.

The study therefore provides evidence that ALPRs are useful crime-fighting tools, but not the broad solution sometimes portrayed by supporters.

Just as important, the research does not resolve the privacy debate.

Adams and Mourtgos acknowledge their study does not measure the costs associated with misuse of plate-reader databases. Police databases have historically created opportunities for improper searches, and the expanded reach of fixed camera networks potentially increases the consequences of such abuse.

Modern ALPR systems include safeguards. Agencies can examine officer search logs, and Flock has developed an automated auditing tool designed to flag suspicious searches. According to the researchers, that system recently contributed to a Georgia police department firing five officers.

But internal audits have significant limitations.

The researchers cite cases in which officers responsible for oversight were themselves accused of abusing the systems. They also note that audit logs are only useful when officers provide meaningful explanations for searches. In one Missouri community, 85% of searches contained only a single-word explanation and fewer than 3% were connected to a criminal case.

Adams and Mourtgos argue that the most significant missing safeguard is independent external auditing.

They point to FBI databases, where access has long been accompanied by mandatory audits and the possibility that access can be revoked. No comparable nationwide auditing system exists for ALPR networks.

The researchers recommend regular outside audits along with limits on how long license-plate information is retained and tighter restrictions governing who can search the databases and for what purposes.

The emerging evidence therefore complicates the debate over Flock cameras and other license plate readers.

The technology appears capable of producing a measurable public-safety benefit, particularly by reducing vehicle theft and helping police locate stolen vehicles more quickly. At the same time, documented cases of database misuse demonstrate that privacy concerns are more than theoretical.

The policy question may increasingly become not simply whether communities should use license plate readers, but what independent oversight should be required when they do.

Source: Ian T. Adams and Scott M. Mourtgos, University of South Carolina criminologists, analysis of their working paper evaluating fixed automated license plate reader networks.