Executive Session with Dickson Clements

Executive Session with Dickson Clements

The Gulf Coast Busines Review sat down with the new land acquisition and development manager for John Cannon Homes.

PERSONAL

HOMETOWN: Victoria, Texas

AGE: 42

FAMILY: Married with a daughter, 9, and son, 7.

EDUCATION: BA in public communications, American University, Washington, D.C.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

TIME WITH COMPANY: Started April 18.

PREVIOUS JOBS: For the past five years he was executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Sarasota County. Prior to that he was the executive director of the Home Builders Association in Corpus Christi for three years and before that he was with the National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C.

FIRST PAYING JOB: "We had a cattle ranch in southwest Texas. Not a huge operation, but large enough to run some cattle. So my first job was working for my dad, helping build and mend fences and working on the cattle ranch and helping my parents actually clear some of the property for their dream home."

WHY AREN'T YOU A RANCHER: "I worked for a gentleman that ran for U.S. Senate in 1984, Max Reed from the 14th Congressional District in Texas. His father and my father were very good friends, both from the same hometown and his son, Max, decided to run for Congress and offered me an opportunity to work for him on his campaign. At the time I was attending college at Texas A&M and my degree field at the time was ranch management so after he was elected ... I worked for him for two years. Then I made the decision to go back to college full time. I got a quick education in the political world."

WHY POLITICS? "I suppose it stemmed from my mother always being interested in politics. ... My father had an auto parts store in Norton, Texas, but it was always his dream to have a cattle business. He worked for an oil company in New Mexico for a short period of time and in west Texas as well. But he had an opportunity to purchase some property in Canada and knew that Herefords were a very good breed in cold climates. So he sold everything he had, lock, stock and barrel, went into debt with the Canadian Land Bank like crazy and started a ranch in the interior of British Columbia and that's where he was when I was born. All of my siblings and I were adopted, so I grew up on a very large ranch raising registered quarter horses and Herefords in interior British Columbia, going to the roundups in the fall and I lived there until I was about 12, when it was just time to come back to Texas where most of the family was.

"I love Texas because that's where I'm from and it's my heritage. My heritage goes back very far in that state. ... I'm a direct descendant of the father of Texas, Stephen F. Austin."

YOU'VE LIVED IN EXTREME CLIMATES, WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE? "There's no question, my favorite is Sarasota."

PASSIONS: "I love to fish. I'm gearing up right now for Tarpon season. I enjoy playing golf. ... I think I'm about a 20 handicap or something like that but I do enjoy just getting out there and hitting the white ball, it relaxes me. Probably the first and foremost thing is spending time with my family. They're the most important thing to me. Whether it's out on the lanai or playing with the kids. Friday nights are family movie night where we rent a movie.

"I enjoy going to the Bucs games and I'm sorry the NHL isn't playing right now. I grew up playing ice hockey in Canada. I also played pick-up hockey in D.C. I don't play it anymore, I like to skate still."

WHERE DO YOUR SPORTS ALLEGIANCES LIE: "I do like the Tampa Bay Lightning. I enjoyed watching them. I like the Bucs, but I do not like the Dallas Cowboys, I want to make that perfectly clear I don't like the Washington Redskins, either, never have. So I'm kind of an adopted Bucs fan, I think. I went to Super Bowl VIII a long time ago when the Dolphins ran over the Vikings."

HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY

WHAT IS THE WORST AND BEST PLACE THAT YOU'VE SEEN WHERE GOVERNMENT AFFECTED LAND DEVELOPMENT? WHERE DOES SARASOTA RANK? "I don't know that I could even say there's a best or a worst. ... It's all about community desires and the ability of the community to fulfill the market demand for housing in that regard. ... I think Sarasota, from a regulatory standpoint - it's a difficult process when you consider the piece of property that has to go through a comprehensive plan and approval process, and from the time that a lot of land could be potentially developed could be five or six years."

- Adam Hughes