Mayor Dailey wants apology after FDLE drops Matlow's Sunshine Law complaint

Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat
Updated ·3 min read

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement last year dropped a complaint filed by Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow against Mayor John Dailey alleging he overheard him speaking about Blueprint business outside of a public meeting.

Last September, Matlow alleged that as he was walking to his office, he overheard Dailey talking about a non-disclosure agreement with City Commissioner Curtis Richardson involving Bugra Demirel and his SoMo Walls development on South Monroe Street.

Mayor John Dailey listens as City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow asks questions about a $1.8 million appropriation for the SoMo Walls development during a meeting of the Blueprint Board of Directors on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
Mayor John Dailey listens as City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow asks questions about a $1.8 million appropriation for the SoMo Walls development during a meeting of the Blueprint Board of Directors on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

Matlow, who complained to FDLE and the Sheriff’s Office, said it happened several days before the Blueprint board, made up of city and county commissioners, was set to take up a $1.8 million funding request from Demirel for the project. The board approved the funding, $1 million of which must be repaid to the agency.

Under the Sunshine Law, two members of the same public board can’t discuss agenda items outside a public meeting. Willful violations are crimes and can result in jail time or removal from office. At the time, Matlow said he witnessed “a crime." Dailey publicly denied violating the Sunshine Law and accused Matlow of “making this up.”

FDLE inspectors interviewed both Matlow and Dailey, separately, at City Hall, according to an FDLE investigative report provided Friday by the Mayor’s Office. Dailey alerted the Democrat to the report on Thursday, a day after a City Commission meeting ended with the two of them shouting over one another and the mayor gaveling the session to a close.

“On Nov. 9, 2023, Inspector (Jennifer) Barineau discussed the content of these interviews with Deputy General Counsel Kate Holmes," the two-page report says. “Per counsel, the aforementioned circumstances have not met a predicate crime and no further investigative action is warranted.”

Dailey told the Democrat on Thursday that Matlow owes him and Richardson a full public apology.

"It was tossed because it was frivolous," Dailey said.

Matlow, who hadn't seen the report until Friday, defended his complaint and accused Dailey of giving "false information" to FDLE.

"I was disturbed by what I witnessed and did my duty to report it to the appropriate officials," he said in an email.

Matlow told an investigator that he heard Dailey, who was standing at Richardson’s office door, mention that “someone messed up” after confidential information about SoMo Walls was posted as part of Blueprint’s public agenda. He also said Dailey stopped talking after seeing Matlow. Richardson’s aide was also in the office.

The FDLE report noted that Matlow immediately notified his aide, Ryan Ray, chairman of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee, and posted his concerns on social media.

According to the FDLE report, Dailey said the conversation was a staff-level issue and not relevant to the voting. He also said information about line items and voting can be discussed within his own office and with his own staff, the report said.

“Therefore, as Dailey explained, the conversation was not a violation of sunshine laws,” the report says.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FDLE drops Matlow's Sunshine Law complaint against Dailey