Welcome back to season 2 of My Mayor, the Catalyst series that helps you get to know the person behind the policy. We sat down with each candidate and asked them each the same five questions, with a few follow up questions sprinkled in. For Episode 2, we asked:

  • What’s something you’ve become much better at in the last five years that would surprise your younger self?
  • What’s a question you wish more people would ask before forming an opinion?
  • Tell me about a time when you realized you’d been completely wrong about someone.
  • What’s a lesson life taught you the hard way?
  • When nobody’s asking anything of you and curiosity takes over, what rabbit hole are you most likely to disappear into?

Joe Hamilton:
We are back on My Mayor Season 2, Episode 2 with candidate Charlie Crist. Good to see you, sir.

Charlie Crist:
Good to see you, Joe. Good morning to you.

Joe Hamilton:
We’ve got five questions to help the voters get to know you a little better, the person behind the policy.

Question number one. What’s something you’ve become much better at in the last five years that would surprise your younger self?

Charlie Crist:
I think I’ve become more patient, Joe, to be honest with you. With age and experience comes, hopefully, wisdom. It’s wise for all of us to strive to be more patient than we were as younger men and women. I would say that’s the thing I’ve observed over the last five years. I’d like to keep working on that too.

Joe Hamilton:
What’s a question you wish more people would ask before forming an opinion?

Charlie Crist:
Honestly, I wish people would put their phones down and get back to some traditional communication. Look people in the eye. Show them your genuineness. I think that would be a great thing.

Joe Hamilton:
People are overwhelmed with information. They often have to take very small signals, especially from social media, and try to extrapolate opinions from them. What’s the trick? There’s so much information in the world. How do you decide what to really focus on and dig into and what to let go?

Charlie Crist:
Take in good information. Listen to people you believe are smart, honest and genuine. Then try to come to a conclusion that sits well with your soul. That’s pretty important. Get good advice from people you trust and who care as much as you do about St. Petersburg.

Joe Hamilton:
Makes sense. Can you tell me about a time when you realized you were wrong about someone?

Charlie Crist:
I would be disingenuous if I didn’t mention the current mayor. I voted for him almost five years ago. I thought it was the right thing to do. I endorsed him and campaigned with him.

I’m disappointed and surprised. It looks like we might lose, and probably will lose, our Major League Baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays. Moffitt Cancer Center wanted to put a site in downtown St. Petersburg. It’s a great institution that fights cancer. Ultimately, he said no, which I think is sad.

So, yes, I think I was wrong about him. That’s one of the reasons I’m running for mayor today, and I’m excited about it.

Joe Hamilton:
That makes sense. Do you believe you can reignite the Moffitt conversation and potentially the Rays conversation as well? Or do you think the Rays are probably the tougher climb?

Charlie Crist:
I think that’s probably safe to say, Joe. The Rays would be a challenge. But I’m a never-give-up kind of guy. Hillsborough County and Tampa seem to be having a hard time getting their act together financially for that move, so I think there’s an opportunity there.

With Moffitt, too, I hope so. They built their facility up in Pasco County, just north of us. But hope springs eternal. I have hope, and I think we have an opportunity on both fronts to make a positive impact. We certainly have to try.

Joe Hamilton:
What’s a lesson life taught you the hard way?

Charlie Crist:
Playing football.

I played linebacker at first and later shifted to quarterback at St. Pete High School. It was tough. Football is a tough sport. Then I was a walk-on quarterback at Wake Forest. I made the team and played there for two years, but I missed Florida, so I transferred back to Florida State in Tallahassee.

Football taught me discipline, sacrifice, teamwork and camaraderie. Not all of it was hard, but a lot of it was.

Joe Hamilton:
Final question. When nobody’s asking anything of you and curiosity takes over, what’s the rabbit hole you’re most likely to disappear into?

Charlie Crist:
I wouldn’t describe it as a rabbit hole, but I think a lot about God. I don’t go to church every Sunday, but I do talk to God every day. I pray. It’s very important to me. It gives me comfort and strength to know that greater being exists and is looking out for us.

Joe Hamilton:
Can you share a little more about the nature of those conversations? Are you thinking through the state of the world? Interpersonal things? What do you tend to focus on?

Charlie Crist:
That’s a good question, Joe. I think it’s mostly to say thank you. I’ve been blessed in my life, and I realize it. I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful to my parents and my family, but I’m especially grateful to God.

I think it’s important just to say, “Thank you, sir,” or “Thank you, ma’am,” whatever God is. That kind of gratitude is important.

I always think of the Tim McGraw song Humble and Kind. If you haven’t seen the video, it almost brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. It’s very moving and very comforting.

Joe Hamilton:
Thank you again for taking a few minutes off the campaign trail to spend some time with us. We’ll see you again, hopefully, in the next episode. Until then, enjoy the process.

Charlie Crist:
Great. Thank you, Joe. And my middle name is Joe, so we have something in common.

Joe Hamilton:
There’s no bad Joe.

Charlie Crist:
Definitely no bad Joes.