Duval County Property Appraiser Jim Overton said Monday he will run for mayor in 2015 by campaigning on issues that make Jacksonville an attractive place to live.

Overton, an elected official for 21 years as a City Council member and property appraiser, said he expects to formally file as a candidate within the next few days.

“I’ll be talking about arts and downtown and a clean and green city, a diverse and inclusive city, distinctive neighborhoods,” Overton said. “Those are the things I would work on as mayor.”

He said he is “particularly interested in our parks. I think we sell ourselves short on our parks.”

Overton would be the first Republican to file as a candidate, though he said he expects others will join the fray.

A University of North Florida poll conducted in February showed that in a head-to-head matchup, Mayor Alvin Brown led Overton by 42 percent to 31 percent “if the election were held today.”

The UNF poll also tested support for Sheriff John Rutherford, City Council President Bill Gulliford and Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry in one-on-one matchups with Brown.

Rutherford ran closest to Brown. Overton was the second-strongest of the contenders, according to the UNF poll.

UNF political science assistant professor Michael Binder said the poll shows Overton has some name recognition, is doing “okay enough” with Republicans, and has a shot at winning over a large group of voters who haven’t made up their minds.

He said the fact that Overton hasn’t been involved in casting votes as a City Council member for many years means he doesn’t have the baggage that comes from such decisions, but he also must work harder to pull together a dedicated team of campaign supporters.

“With that comes the ability to not make enemies,” he said. “But on the flip side, you haven’t really made great friends, either, and he’s going to need that.”

Overton, 61, served on the City Council from 1992 to 2003, representing District 14. He was City Council president in 1997-98. After City Council, he won county-wide elections three times for property appraiser. Term limits prevent him from running again for property appraiser.

Overton said his mix of experience on the legislative and administrative sides of city government would permit him to exert strong leadership as mayor.

He said he supports adding sexual orientation to the groups of people covered by the city’s anti-discrimination laws. The City Council rejected that measure in 2012. Overton said it would be one of the first bills he would work with City Council to enact as mayor.

“I think there’s a version of it that needs to be passed,” Overton said. “The fact of the matter is that people are just people when you get right down to it, and nobody should be discriminated against.”

He said he would “take a long look” at the recommendations in Jax 2025, the report by Jacksonville Community Council Inc. that envisions what the city should look like in a decade.

He said Jacksonville’s “general livability” requires a sustained focus on improving services at the neighborhood level.

The consolidated city-county form of government in Jacksonville “has lended itself to a short attention span to neighborhoods.”

Overton is a Jacksonville native. He earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Washington & Lee University and master of public administration from the University of North Florida.