As Bob Buckhorn prepares to leave office, he’s giving his beloved neckties a charitable send-off

Bob Buckhorn, seen here celebrating is last River O' Green celebration as mayor, is giving away his ties.

Google images of Bob Buckhorn and you’ll find hundreds of photos. What you would be hard-pressed to find though are pictures of him wearing the same tie twice.

“My wife will be happy to know that her suspicions have been confirmed,” Buckhorn laughed into the phone. “Every now and then I will go in and purge my tie closet because my wife gives me so much grief over having so many.”

With just six weeks left in office, Buckhorn’s tie collection won’t get quite the same use as it has for the past eight years. So now was as good as any time for the latest Buckhorn tie purge.

Tuesday morning he schlepped a couple of dozen up to his office in City Hall to give away.

“These are great ties,” he said, as if trying to make the case for why someone might want an official Buckhorn tie.

Because he has so many, they don’t go through a ton of wear and tear. Some, he said, have called his closet home for more than 20 years.

There’s no rhyme or reason to Buckhorn’s great tie give-away. He gave some to a friend whose son is about to attend Jesuit High School where ties are part of the daily uniform. Some staff members in City Hall take them off his hands. In years past, Buckhorn said he has spotted a few of his old ones decorating the necks of staff members.

“For guys, our uniform is largely dark suits, so your tie is really the only thing you can use to express yourself,” said the man who wears bright green pants with shamrocks on them every year for St. Patrick’s Day.

So what does it take for a tie to land itself on Buckhorn’s neck?

“I like Robert Talbott,” Buckhorn said.

And, he added, he does not own a single polyester tie.

Buckhorn’s jovial tales of his impressive tie collection won’t be the week’s headline, but the joy in his voice talking about them is a reminder that he’s coming to the end of what was his life’s greatest journey. The joke in Tampa goes that if Buckhorn could be Mayor for life, he would.

But he can’t, so he’s remembering his time fondly. And he’s leaving behind for others just a small piece of the Buckhorn swagger he’s known for — a swagger Buckhorn says Tampa has, too.