SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — In a bid to remain transparent, San Angelo Police Department chief candidate Travis Griffith has revealed that his wife has come under review by the San Angelo Independent School District due to a biased email encouraging coworkers to vote early.

Travis Griffith held a special press conference shortly before noon on April 25 at Unidad Park to address the subject. He shared that Vanessa Griffith, his wife and a fourth-grade teacher at SAISD, has become the center of a review due to an email she had sent to her coworkers.

"I think it's fair to the people of San Angelo to know where I come from and know where I stand on it," Travis Griffith said.

According to Travis Griffith, these emails were sent out from Vanessa Griffith's personal phone on Monday, April 22, to coincide with the start of early voting in San Angelo.

"She was trying to get people to go out and rock the vote," Travis Griffith said. "She wanted people to go out and see and let them know that early voting has started and that there was going to be a forum that night."

However, the content of the email was scrutinized because it was biased in favor of her husband's campaign. This caused the school district to launch a review into the incident and Vanessa Griffith.

"She's my wife, and I love her, and she's biased, and those biases came through," Travis Griffith said.

According to SAISD's 2023-24 Employee Handbook, district communication tools such as emails "must not be used to conduct any political activities, including political advertising or lobbying." This extends to "using District email ... to create, distribute, forward, or reply to messages ... which expressly or implicitly support or oppose a candidate for nomination or election to either a public office or an office of a political party or support or oppose an officeholder, a political party, or a measure (a ballot proposition)."

In response to a request for a statement made by Concho Valley Homepage, SAISD's Communications Department stated that "San Angelo ISD does not advocate for or against particular political candidates and agree election laws should be followed. Personnel matters are confidential in nature."

The Griffith family expressed its support of the district's actions, with Travis Griffith stating that his wife's actions didn't harbor "any ill intent."

"There was no malicious action, she was just trying to get people to vote," Travis Griffith said. "But obviously, whenever your spouse cares about you, they're going to support you, and that's what she was trying to do. She wasn't trying to violate anything."

In light of the situation at hand, Travis Griffith has doubled down on his promise to remain transparent as a police chief candidate and, should he be elected, chief of the SAPD.

"Electing me, you're going to get transparency, even when it's hard," Travis Griffith said. "We're going to respect how this follows out, and we're going to trust the Lord through it all. I'm still right here — if you have questions or comments, call me. I'm not shying away from this."

You can contact Travis Griffith by calling (325) 315-6462 or emailing [email protected]. Watch the video below to listen to his full statement on the incident.

News Source : https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/local-news/local-politics/griffith-addresses-family-controversy-amid-police-chief-election/