The MillionaireMatlow Files

The 2024 money

The 2026 connection

Tallahassee Reports traced $200,000 from Green Advocacy Project to Lead Locally PAC: $100,000 in April 2024, $50,000 in June 2025, and $50,000 in May 2026. Lead Locally recently endorsed Matlow for mayor. [2] [5]

What they want

Green Advocacy Project’s published strategy calls for faster adoption of renewable energy, and for stopping expansion of fossil-fuel infrastructure, including natural gas. Lead Locally’s Matlow endorsement specifically highlights Tallahassee’s publicly owned utility and advocates adding solar instead of natural gas. Their stated policy goals put our utility at the center of their interest in this election. [4] [5]

Pennsylvania’s example

The PA Alliance for Energy article republishes reporting by Delaware Valley Journal from May 2020. It describes nearly $200,000 from GAP supporting Pennsylvania election efforts, including $30,000 for phone calls and texts through Conservation Voters of PA and $48,000 to Food & Water Watch. The article characterizes the funding as dark money because Green Advocacy Project’s underlying donors were not disclosed. It offers an earlier example of the group using election funding to pursue energy-policy goals. [1]

Gainesville’s costs

Gainesville’s costly biomass renewable energy contract prompted a $750 million buyout, financed over 30 years through utility bonds repaid by customers. [8] [9]

Local control

A 2023 Florida law transferred GRU oversight from Gainesville’s City Commission to a governor-appointed authority amid debt and budget pressures. Tallahassee residents deserve answers before major utility decisions are made. [9]

Loranne’s groundwork

Loranne Ausley and the United Way of the Big Bend established Whole Child Leon in 2004 to bring community partners together around the needs of young children. In a 2025 WFSU interview, Ausley described that work as helping pave the way for the Children’s Services Council. [6] [7]

His position

WCTV reported that Jeremy Matlow organized a September 2020 press conference opposing the proposed Children’s Services Council. Tallahassee Reports quoted Matlow saying “that now is not the time to create a new independent taxing authority to support a Children Services Council.” [1] [2]

What happened next

Leon County voters approved the council in November 2020, and it became operational in 2021. Its investments have supported early childhood programs, youth development, family support, food access, and housing stability. [3]

What it funds

CSC supports early learning and affordable childcare, including assistance through the Early Learning Coalition’s On-Ramp program. It also funds afterschool and summer enrichment, early developmental screening, mental health support, and perinatal services. [8] [4] [5]

Help for families

CSC-funded family resource centers connect residents with services such as parenting support, food access, mental health resources, and housing assistance. Its Special Needs Summer Scholarship program helps eligible families pay for approved summer care for children and youth with documented special needs. [9] [10]