Woman of Influence: Sody Clements
Sody Clements, the current and five-time mayor of Nichols Hills, dearly loves her hometown. “When I was growing up, there were 44 children on my one block, and we were all in and out of each other’s houses,” she says. “Nobody knew exactly where we were, but everybody came home for dinner. And we roamed all over Nichols Hills with no regard whatsoever for property lines, or fences or anything. It was great fun. There were always people to play with and the doors were unlocked. Everybody knew whose dogs were whose and recognized, you know, the cars that were in the neighborhood. We’d all walk to school. If it rained, one of the dads in a station wagon would drive up the block, and we’d all just pile in and all go to school together.”
Sody and her husband, Robert Clements, both grew up in Nichols Hills. She attended Nichols Hills Elementary, Casady School, Vanderbilt University and the University of Central Oklahoma, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business. Her family is tightly knit; her two brothers and sister all live within a quarter-mile of one another. Her husband’s family business, Clements Foods, is in its third generation of family management. His two brothers also live within blocks of Sody and Robert. The couple’s grown children, Robert and William, enjoyed a similarly idyllic childhood in their hometown and now make their homes in Dallas and Nantes, France, respectively.
To many if not most Oklahomans, Nichols Hills is the home of the highbrow. For Clements, her 43 fellow marauders and legions of others, one of the toniest enclaves in the region is simply their little Mayberry. Clements loves that people from every corner of our state visit her city to look at Christmas lights, or to trick-or-treat. She loves its history, its sense of community and its safety.
She’s served it, and the rest of her community, extraordinarily well. Clements’ many volunteer projects have benefited the
Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra (now OKC Philharmonic), Leadership Oklahoma City, Festival of the Arts, Literary Voices, Casady School, All Souls’ Church, YWCA, Lyric Theater, Allied Arts and the Junior League of Oklahoma City. (That’s an abridged list.) She does all this, she said, because it’s fun, and because she was raised to believe that giving back is what you do.
She is extremely grateful to Robert, whose commitment to civic engagement rivals her own: “He makes it so I can volunteer, and he is heavily involved in community activities too. Together we chaired last year’s Allied Arts campaign, and he is chairing the next United Way campaign. Currently we are both passionate about the OKC Phil, and the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center.”
As the intermittent mayor of Nichols Hills (more about that later), her civic involvement began, festively, with a parade. Clements said she was a bit of a wallflower in high school, but began blooming in her early 20s. “One of the first things I got involved with was the Nichols Hills parade,” she remembers. “Ann Taylor, who was a former mayor and one of my neighbors, encouraged me to get involved. Then she asked me to be chairman, and I was chairman for about 10 years, I think.” Part of Clements’ sly style is to underplay how hard she works. “Ours is strictly a children’s parade, so we don’t have to organize floats or sponsors or anything. And truly, at nine o’clock on July 4, the children show up on their bicycles and we just go.”
What about that “intermittent mayoring” alluded to earlier?
Nichols Hills has a wonderfully egalitarian method for determining its mayor: Its three city councilors simply take turns. “There are three of us on the City Council,” she explains. “And in your third year of service, you automatically get to be mayor. I started in 2009, so this will be my fifth term. Really, the job doesn’t change much. You preside at the meetings; that’s really the only difference.”
She immediately mentions her co-councilors. “I serve on a really great team of city councilmen, Steven Goetzinger and Peter Hoffman. And then we have the most fabulous city manager in the universe, Shane Pate.” Initiatives and issues facing her fair city are similar to those of any municipality — striking a balance between history and progress, paving streets, saving landmarks and ensuring that residents are safe. As mayor, Clements would love to see more residents attending meetings and getting involved.
For her, though, it really is a labor of love on behalf of her beloved home. “I only volunteer for things that are worthwhile or fun. Some of my best, longest friendships have come from things I’ve volunteered on.” Carry on, Madam Mayor!