Florida Files

Officeholders

Russell Melendy

2023 Form 6 · annual filing (Commission on Ethics) · received 2024-06-06 · 7 pages (text)

Net worth$3,115,280
Income listed$160,670
Real estate$1,507,1994 properties
Debts listed$896,429
Worth a look0

Where listed income comes from

  • Other / unclassified 78% $124,600 · Coker Fuel Inc, Sebring Gas System, Inc.
  • Government & public payroll 22% $36,070 · Hardee County Commission

Worth a look 0

Nothing stood out under the current rules.

Context 7

Context Unusual reporting

Lists 1 investment account ($7,291) instead of what's in them

The instructions say the investments held in a brokerage account or IRA are the assets to report — not the account itself. As listed, the public can't see what the filer is invested in.

What to check
  • Which companies or funds are in these accounts? Holdings matter for conflicts of interest.

Rule: Accounts listed instead of investments
“Note that the product contained in a brokerage account, IRA, or the Florida College Investment Plan, is your asset”2023 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Unusual reporting

“Bank Account” ($92,176) doesn't name the institution

Intangible assets should name the entity they relate to.

What to check
  • Which bank, company or fund is this?

Rule: Asset without a named institution
“Do not list simply "stocks and bonds" or "bank accounts."”2023 Form 6 instructions, Assets (quote not found in this year's instructions) · how this rule works

Context Unusual reporting

Net worth $3,115,280; listed items add up to $1,783,013

Reported net worth: $3,115,280. Household goods + listed assets − listed liabilities = $1,783,013. A difference is normal: net worth also counts assets and debts that aren't listed individually (items under $1,000, credit cards, taxes), and the instructions say subtracting listed liabilities from listed assets won't give an accurate figure in most cases.

What to check
  • No action needed unless other items look off.

Rule: Net worth vs. listed items
“Simply subtracting your liabilities from your assets will not result in an accurate net worth figure in most cases.”2023 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Income & business ties

Earns from 3 separate employers or businesses

Several distinct earned-income sources (excluding investments, retirement and Social Security).

What to check
  • Are any of these sources connected to each other or to the office sought?

Rule: Several earned-income sources

How this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Reports a net worth of $3,115,280 — a millionaire on paper

Net worth is the filer's own figure. Being wealthy isn't a problem; it's context for comparing candidates and for reading the rest of the form.

What to check
  • Compare with the other candidates in the race.
  • Check that the large assets below are described and valued clearly.

Rule: Net worth tier
“Report your net worth as of”2023 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Real estate worth $1,507,198 across 4 properties (48% of net worth)

Real estate holdings, as listed.

What to check
  • Look the parcels up with the county property appraiser: land use (vacant or improved), assessed value and when they were bought.
  • Check whether any listed liability is a mortgage on these properties.

Rule: Real estate holdings
“Real property: Identify by providing the street address of the property.”2023 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Lists 6 businesses under “Interests in Specified Businesses” and owns more than 5% of 4

Listed under “Interests in Specified Businesses”: RAM Lands of Central Florida, Blue Key Enterprises, Grass Valley Ranch, Inc., Coker Fuel Inc., Sebring Gas System, Inc., Fleur De Lis Ranch. That section covers banks, insurers, mortgage and small-loan companies, utilities, alcohol licensees, pari-mutuels and holders of city or county franchises — industries where officials' interests are disclosed separately.

What to check
  • Check whether the office sought oversees or contracts with these industries.
  • Look the businesses up on Sunbiz for officers and registered agents.

Rule: Stakes in closely regulated businesses
“The types of businesses covered in this section include: state and federally chartered banks”2023 Form 6 instructions, Interests in Specified Businesses ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Where to look next

These links open official public records, built from what the filer disclosed. They're searches you run yourself — results may include other people or companies with similar names.

Their filings

Their campaign

Businesses they disclosed

Other filings by Russell Melendy

FilingReceivedNet worthItems
2025 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2026-06-03$4,647,372
2024 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2025-06-28$3,583,244
2022 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2023-07-26$2,602,838

Campaign money

2026 campaign for Board of County Commissioners

Raised
$0 from 0 contributions

From the Division of Elections campaign finance database, retrieved 2026-10-10. Loans and interest aren't counted as raised. Search the records by candidate name · How this is counted

Net worth

Net worth
As of
Household goods (lump sum)

Assets over $1,000 $2,497,477 listed

DescriptionValue

Liabilities over $1,000 $896,429 listed

CreditorAddressAmount

Joint and several liabilities not reported above

Reported as “N/A”.

Income $160,670 listed

Elected to attach federal tax return instead:

Primary sources

SourceAddressAmount

Secondary sources (major customers of businesses owned)

Interests in specified businesses

#1 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership
#2 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership
#3 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership
#4 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership
#5 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership
#6 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership

Companies on the state register

Companies this filing names, as the Division of Corporations lists them. Their role is shown when the filer is an officer or registered agent. A company matched by name only is shown just when it's active. How these are matched

CompanyNamed asState recordTheir role
COKER FUEL INCIncome sourceActive
formed 1966 · last annual report 2026
President
SEBRING GAS SYSTEM, INC.Income sourceActive
formed 1991 · last annual report 2026
Vice president
GRASS VALLEY RANCH, INC.Business interestActive
formed 1972 · last annual report 2026
matched by name

Signature

Signed by
—
Date
Filed with COE

Source

Document
Open PDF · original source
Retrieved
2026-10-11T05:07:13+00:00
SHA-256
f1cad3dfd20a43c7b6bf4b535bfcb8c19e681124f4939b5ac765e2edffb21704
Pages
p1 form6 · p2 form6 · p3 form6 · p4 form6 · p5 form6 · p6 form6 · p7 form6
Extraction
parser v0.5.2; 0 value(s) below 80% confidence