On July 27, Charlie Crist walked through the halls of St. Petersburg High, his alma mater. He said he was there to bring his soon-to-be stepson to football tryouts.
Crist, who is less than one month away from the mayoral primary, said he encouraged the football team, for which he once played quarterback, to work hard.
Then, the football coach, Denis Gillen, shared his own story about the mayoral-hopeful: Decades earlier, Gillen struggled to find work as a teacher because of a nonviolent criminal charge, Crist recalled. He wrote to the education commissioner at the time, none other than Crist, and was given a second chance.
The footage of Gillen speaking, with Crist to his side, was captured on camera and edited together with photos of the candidate visiting the campus, including a snapshot of a locker that still brandishes his name. It cut to a “Charlie Crist for Mayor” logo before ending.
The final product was posted Thursday to Crist’s Facebook, which is rife with campaign material, from endorsements to telephone town hall notices. It was taken down early afternoon on Friday, shortly before being reposted — this time without a campaign logo at the end (It was also missing a “CristForMayor” hashtag).
Crist said the video was updated at the request of the Pinellas County School Board, whose policies prohibit the use of school property to “for advertising or otherwise promoting the interests of any commercial, political, or other nonschool agency or individual organization.” It also bars employees from “engaging in political activities on board premises during duty hours.”
The school district did not answer a Tampa Bay Times’ question about whether the original post violated the policy or why Crist was asked to modify the video. Earlier in the day, spokesperson Isabel Macareñas said they were “looking into it.”
Gillen, the football coach, did not immediately respond to a text and calls seeking comment.
Even though Crist followed the board’s direction, he said he didn’t know if he had to. When asked why, he said “Three words: Freedom of speech.”
Speaking to a reporter Friday morning before the post was removed, Crist, who has held several elected offices in Florida, including governor and attorney general, said the video was “an organic moment.”
“Some days on the campaign trail, life comes full circle when you least expect it,” the caption on the post reads.
At the time, Crist said he was not worried about possibly flouting the district’s regulations as he was “just taking his future stepson to football practice.”
The video, Crist added, just captured a “family moment” and he didn’t talk about his campaign to the kids in the room.
“There’s no gray area. There’s no campaigning about it. That was clearly me taking my kid to football,” said Chelsea Grimes, Crist’s fiancée, whose 14-year-old son is trying out as a wide receiver and will be a freshman this fall.
It’s not the first time Crist has been filmed at the school while campaigning for office. He has also received criticism for efforts to promote his campaign this election season.
In 2014, during an unsuccessful attempt to return to the governor’s mansion, the school gave Crist the green light to record a 30-second television ad on campus, breaking district rules.
At the time, the letter of approval allowing Crist to film was signed by Darlene Lebo, then-assistant principal for facilities and the school’s current principal.
Lebo said Crist’s appearance this month was not an officially scheduled campaign visit. The mayoral candidate called the school earlier to ask when football tryouts would be, she told the Times.
Earlier in July, incumbent Ken Welch’s campaign called out Crist’s camp for airing what it called a misleading political advertisement. A video posted by St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing the former governor, claimed Welch is raising property taxes. It was replaced hours after Welch’s attorneys demanded the ad be taken off the air.
Welch’s campaigned declined to comment Friday.
