Somewhere in this passage is a chuckle.

 

When a person receives a monetary windfall, like lottery winnings or a large inheritance that receives publicity, they soon become the target of solicitors.

 

Russell Buchan’s estate windfall is publicly known, somewhat because of exposure through the Internet. We have a message to solicitors wanted to contact Russell,

 

 

It an old family story that Russell is so tight the family suspects he still has the $25 Savings Bond he received at his High School graduation some forty plus years ago.

 

For years Russell and I worked together and I learned to live with his prudent spending habits. It seemed to be standard procedure that whenever we had breakfast or lunch together, at the conclusion he would meekly announce he left his wallet at home.

 

Remembering one occasion when my family and I traveled to St. Petersburg to visit our mother in the nursing home, Russell invited us all to have dinner at his favorite Italian Restaurant on Fourth Street, Dal’Italia Ristorante. Our dinner was like the conclusion of the Sopranos series on HBO. The owner greeted us at the door, led us to a circular table for seven where we were served numerous House specialties including a feast of Lasagna, Italian Pasta dishes laden with meatballs and sausage and enough warm Italian bread to open a bakery. The Chianti and Merlot flowed freely and the meal concluded with a family favorite, home made canolas.

 

When the check arrived, the waitress handed it to Russell as we were his guests. Russell then made the usual pronouncement to me; he forgot and left his wallet at home. Meal, tax and tip was loaded onto my credit card and as we left, the proprietor placed his arm around Russell’s shoulder leading us to the door saying, “ Russell, please bring your family back again. We love seeing you at our restaurant.”

 

Russell's missed opportunity to Philanthropy! 

Throughout his life, our Father was an investor in Land. Sometime in the late fifties or early sixties when I was in college, my brother, Douglas was managing Buchan Gas Company, the family business founded by our parents. Father and Doug invested in a land and jointly purchased about ten acres of land on 62^nd Avenue North for $25,000. The land was once an excavation site for road work and then became a land fill area.

A few years later, Douglas planned to open his own fuel oil delivery company and needed to purchase a delivery truck. He sold his one half interest in the land back to our Father for $12,500 and began the process of opening his own compay, Buchan Oil Company.

 

Father was always reluctant to sell any land assets. As years passed and the area developed with industrial warehouses and strip store centers he had received many offers to sell. He always politely refused. In the mid-eighties, I was appointed Court Conservator of my parents’ real estate holdings during tryings times in their lives. During that period I received an offer of purchase for the parcel for $1,200,000. As required by the Courts,  I communicated the offer to my parents. My father replied, “No Way, I am saving that land for the children.”

 

When our Father passed away in 1994 his property interests passed to our Mother who at the time was confined to a Nursing Home. In April, 2001, when our Mother passed away, which later was believed to be murder by some family members, Russell seized all estate assets valued in Court papers at $3,500,000 under questionable means in a quick probate administration. The 62nd Avenue vacant land was listed in Court probate documents  at   $400,000, the same value used in our father’s probate seven years earlier. There can be a large estate tax savings when you can sneak something like this pass the Internal Revenue Service in a rising real estate market. Five years after our mother’s passing, the county tax appraiser had an assessed value on the parcel at $ 660,000.

 

Inheriting a three and one half million dollar estate did not taint Russell’s prudent generosity.

 

Russell Buchan always had pride in his love of the Arts. He was a member of the Salvatore Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and a patron to The Arts Center in St. Petersburg. In the Arts Center website, Russell Buchan is listed as a member of the Leadership Circle with a contribution of $150 and under $299. (www.theartscenter.org) I would like to believe Russell was tempted to give more but perhaps he left his wallet and checkbook at home.

SPENDING TAXPAYERS DOLLARS.

In October 2006, the Pinellas Park City Council adopted a resolution to purchase the ten acre parcel of land for up to three million dollars ($3,000,000). What is interesting about this entry, the resolution was passed one month prior to the General election in Florida when the major campaign issue was higher property taxes and insurance costs that all Florida taxpayers were facing.

When council members were contacted by email about why they would authorize a land purchase over four times above its assessed value,only one council member responded and his reply was that the city had missed out on the purchase of an adjacent parcel the previous year and they wanted to be sure they got this one. The willingness to overpay is easier when it’s taxpayer dollars and not your own.

Russell Buchan could have considered a donation of the parcel in memory of our parents, "The Charles and Amelia Buchan Recreation Area."  I guess one does not murder his mother and then make a contribution of private land in her memory.

 

Russell Buchan made a windfall profit of almost three million dollars on this piece of land. I doubt that his charitable contribution habits will change. Maybe the next time he is with acquaintances at Dal’Italia Restorante he will pick up the check and leave a little extra for the waitress.