Dan Davidson
A Tribute to Teamwork
Page 22 | Landmarks 2007
STORY: LAURA GUTSCHKE
PHOTO: ARTIE LIMMER
V
ETERINARY MEDICINE WAS
in Dan Davidson’s (B.S., Horticulture and Parks Management, 1959)
future, until a tour of duty in Europe during the Korean War kindled
Two friends invited Davidson to Texas Tech
after his discharge. Right away he liked the campus, academic program and people of Lubbock.
“Texas Tech had one of the first programs
that focused on the practical use of horticulture
parks, roads, arbors and gardens. His new ca-
that was saddled with training in parks management,” said Davidson.
reer path centered on planned developments,
FIRST PARKS PROJECT
first as a parks planner and later in Austin’s city
For a senior team project, Davidson was part
of a team that presented a redesign plan for
White Rock Lake Park to the Dallas Parks Board
in the Petroleum Building. Word of the project
reached San Antonio city manager Lynn Andrews, who saw the project and hired Davidson
as a city planner in 1959. While working for the
city for more than two years, Davidson moonlighted weekends, selling trees, shrubs and landscaping supplies.
an admiration for the old European landscaped
management. Davidson concluded his city management career as Austin’s city manager.
Today, Davidson lives in Austin and is a partner in a land development company and co-owner of a wholesale tree business. His reputation as
a successful, ethical businessman is balanced by
an equally noble regard for his volunteer work.
“He’s Mr. Wonderful. You would be hard
pressed to find anyone who didn’t think the best
about Dan. He’s a family man, he has high morals, he’s civic-minded, he’s hard-working,” said
Malcolm Cooper, senior vice president of RBC
Dain Rauscher in Austin who has known Davidson for 33 years.
A few years past the traditional retirement age
of 65, Davidson doesn’t see a need to retire any
time soon, despite the gentle nudging of his wife
of 52 years, Phyllis.
“I still work long hours, and she’d like me to retire, but I’m not ready to do that yet,” said Davidson. “I don’t want to slow down just right now.”
Such a sentiment is not surprising for a man
who worked full-time while carrying a full load
at Texas Tech to support himself, Phyllis, and the
first of their five children.
Davidson was raised in Clayton, New Mexico,
and worked on the family’s two nearby ranches.
As a member of 4-H, he showed steers, heifers and bulls. He attended one semester at the
University of New Mexico, where he met Phyllis, before volunteering for a two-year stint with
the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Germany for
about a year.
DAVIDSON DOESN’T
SEE A NEED TO RETIRE
ANY TIME SOON
When Andrews moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, to be city manager, he hired Davidson as a
deputy city manager. The two moved to Austin in
similar positions in 1969.
“Every job I had with city management involved
working closely with the parks department,” said
Davidson. “I’ve always admired and loved to plant
things, even when growing up in Clayton.”
THE AUSTIN BOOM
Davidson’s move to Austin came as technology
companies IBM, Texas Instruments, Motorola,
Abbott Laboratories and others were expanding operations in the city. “Silicon Hills” became
Austin’s nickname as commercial growth added
to Austin’s skyline and population.
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“In the early 1970s, Austin was around 58th in
population in the nation, but year after year, it
would be in the top 10 in the nation in terms of dollar value of building permits issued,” said Davidson.
When appointed city manager in 1972, Davidson’s goal was to bring together the finest employees to manage Austin’s growth in a way that
best served the public.
“As city manager I worked with unbelievable
mayors and city council members who saw what
was going on and allowed me to hire the very
best department managers,” said Davidson.
In addition to working with elected officials,
Davidson and his staff collaborated with 46
• “We were able to improve the city’s financial
ratings, which were already good, but we were
able to make them better. If it was rated AA,
we were able to bump it to AAA or from A to
AA, depending on the bond category”.
“Dan loves Austin for all the right reasons,” said
Matthews. “I know this sounds corny, but he
literally is one of those people who made a
major difference in Austin.”
A local newspaper described Davidson as a
“pragmatic conservative,” which some politicians
viewed well and others did not, he said. But, the
caliber of Davidson’s skills are evident in three
awards from the International City Manager’s Association: in 1980 he received the L.P. Cookingham Award for management development and
the Management Innovation Award for energy
conservation and environmental programs. The
next year, the group presented him the Carolyn
Keene Award for development of programs for
the handicapped. Each of these awards is presented to only one person a year.
“These awards would not have been possible without the excellent staff and department
heads, and the fine mayors and council members
that I worked with,” Davidson said.
PRIVATE SECTOR
TREE OF CHOICE
The Cedar Elm is growing in popularity—
with landscape architects, nurserymen and
homeowners. It’s also Davidson’s favorite
tree these days because of its hardiness and
ability to thrive in many different soils.
“It stays shades of green throughout the
growing season and then turns golden in
the fall. It grows 70 feet tall. It has uplifting branches, but it is also compact. It has
the kind of tree canopy artists like to paint.
It has very few insect or disease problems,”
Davidson said.
“We started growing these trees about
four years after we bought the farm. I had
hardly known anything about it, but landscape architects got to liking it after they
were looking for a replacement for certain
Oak trees because of the Oak Wilt Disease.”
Page 24 | Landmarks 2007
public boards and committees that usually were
comprised of three to 12 citizens.
“Dan’s a classic example of there’s no limit to
what you can accomplish if you’re not concerned
with who gets the credit,” said Steve Matthews,
attorney and president of Steve T. Matthews Company in Austin. Matthews’ dad, who was a city
manager of San Antonio and later executive director of the Texas Municipal League, first introduced
him to Davidson, and today Matthews and Davidson volunteer for many of the same groups.
As Davidson talks about his accomplishments
as city manager, he uses “we” and not “I” when
listing some highlights:
• “We got the city council to agree to a five-year
plan” that outlined growth for city services,
such as water lines, libraries, street development and parks.
• “We put together bond packages that
voters approved.”
After 22 years in municipal management, Davidson entered the private sector in 1981 as an
executive vice president for homebuilder Nash
Phillips/Copus, Inc. Five years later, he joined
Lufkin-based Lumbermen’s Investment Corp. as
senior vice president and president of its Temple
Inland Properties. Davidson remained in Austin
to oversee the company’s development of subdivisions and commercial property.
In 1991, Davidson joined current partner C.W.
Hetherly as a vice president for Lampting Inc., a
real estate and investment firm whose developments include subdivisions in the Austin-area
cities of Austin, Cedar Park and Kyle. That same
year, the two purchased the 24-acre Austin Tree
Farm (now 50-acre).
The farm had only about 2,500 trees, had not
been replanted in four years and was in general
disrepair. The farm’s one advantage, however,
was its location along the Colorado River. The
rich soil along the riverbank is the ideal mix of
clay and sandy loam for field-grown trees that
can be dug, balled and wrapped in burlap for delivery to nurseries, Davidson said.
He initially devoted about 65 percent of his
time to managing the farm. For the first two-andone-half years, the farm saw no income as equipment and irrigation systems were improved and
seedlings planted. Since then, former customers
have been wooed back and new ones cultivated
THERE’S NO LIMIT TO WHAT
YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH IF
YOU’RE NOT CONCERNED WITH
WHO GETS THE CREDIT
DAN DAVIDSON’S ADVICE FOR
TODAY’S STUDENTS
• Work hard, both individually and as a
team player. “I value teamwork and hard
work. When I used to have a lot of employees, I talked to them about that a lot,” Davidson said. He also advises that students
think ahead to how their actions will affect an entire team of coworkers.
• Learn to communicate. Take one course
in public speaking and one course in technical writing, he suggests. “With today’s
high-tech world and fast pace of information, we tend to lose the personal touch in
how we communicate with one another,”
Davidson said.
• Be ethical. “Students need to understand
the need for strong personal ethics and
how they can develop a standard on their
own that everyone can admire. Students
in the past did not hear much talk about
ethics, but there are now courses on it,
and I applaud that,” Davidson said.
• Participate in a civic club. “There’s lots to go
around, and young people can get a great
deal in giving to an organization their
time, their ideas and their money,” said
Davidson. “And, they should support their
college and their university.”
FACT FILE
• Married Phyllis in March 1954. The couple
has five children: Mike (B.A. 1978); Dana
and her husband, Mickey Rocco, who have
three children; Doug and his wife, Debbie,
who have two children; Jeff, who has two
children; and Matt.
• Davidson enjoys family trips and other
get-togethers.
throughout the Southwest. Two land purchases
have expanded the farm to 50 acres, and between 25,000 and 45,000 trees are in the ground
at any one time. An experienced nurseryman today runs day-to-day operations and oversees a
staff of six.
“We are really meeting a niche market. People
who have experience with field-grown trees really like them. They know how to handle them,
and they come to prefer them,” said Davidson.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Davidson’s story is also one of devoted volunteer.
“The No. 1 thing Dan brings to any group is
the willingness to work hard. Secondly, he also
has the ability to, politely and with consideration, keep people on task without making them
feel pressured,” said Cooper.
Davidson has held several officers’ positions
with the Rotary Club of Austin, including president. He also is a past president of the Boy Scouts
Capital Area Council, past director of the Austin
Area Chamber of Commerce and past president
of Mount Wesley Conference Center. Davidson is
a member of Northwest Hills United Methodist
Church and chairman of its Building Committee.
While director of the Chamber of Commerce, Davidson helped launch the nonprofit Keep Austin
Beautiful organization.
“I think volunteering is a way to give back to
a community that has been home to me and my
family since 1969,” said Davidson. “And, I really
do think people benefit personally when they
help in their community.”
Davidson is a humble man who has condensed
his 47-year career to a one-page resume. And, his
community activities take up as much room on
that sheet as his job listings. He also speaks affectionately of his wife Phyllis and her support during the years.
“This is one of those cases where the nice guy
finishes first. He truly is a nice guy,” said Cooper.
“He combines living nice with being a successful
businessman and family man.”
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