Jimmy Carter defeating Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election set the stage for Jim Overton’s 22-year career in local government service.
Overton in 1976 was working for the Republican National Committee, so when voters favored the Democrat, he and his GOP colleagues were soon looking for their next positions.
“If Ford had been elected, I would have had a job — at least in the Executive Office Building and maybe in the White House — doing something,” said Overton, who is term-limited as property appraiser and leaves office today.
One of the stops during his job hunt was a visit to the late U.S. Rep. Charles E. Bennett, whom Overton met years before while growing up in Jacksonville.
He was hoping to find another job in Washington, D.C., but Bennett suggested a different option.
“He said, ‘You need to get your stuff and go back to Jacksonville. Build a political base and run for office,’” Overton recalls.
Heeding the advice, Overton came home and joined his father’s business, selling broadcast equipment and production systems to television stations throughout the South.
After several years, Overton’s lifelong penchant for politics began growing again. He was involved in student government in high school and college and had been a member of the YMCA Youth Legislature.
“I always liked the political process, parliamentary procedure and the notion of making laws,” said Overton.
After he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state Legislature in 1990, Overton was off the ballot in Jacksonville until November 1992. That campaign was successful and he was elected to City Council to fill the unexpired term of Tillie Fowler, who left office to serve in Congress. Overton was re-elected in 1995 and 1999.
Overton served as council president for 1997-98. As a council member, he worked on many issues that changed Jacksonville, including former Mayor Ed Austin’s River City Renaissance Downtown redevelopment plan, securing the NFL franchise for Jacksonville and transitioning the city Housing Authority into an independent agency.
He also worked to acquire undeveloped land in Duval County that eventually became the city’s Preservation Project
When his predecessor in the property appraiser’s office, Ernie Mastroianni, decided not to run for re-election in 2003, Overton campaigned and won.
“I had some background in real estate and a master’s in public administration. I thought, ‘That fits me perfectly. I could do that,’” Overton said.
Now he’s looking back at 22 years in public service, the past 12 as property appraiser.
Overton said in addition to being about some of his favorite subjects like real estate and the law, the property appraiser has a small staff and relative independence from the rest of city government
“This has been a very interesting job,” he said.
One of his first initiatives as property appraiser, Overton said, was to change the culture within the 120-person department. He described what he inherited as “not what I considered progressive.” So Overton instilled new management techniques to create “a more flexible organization” and establish a teamwork approach, he said.
Changing how the office interacted with the public also was an early project.
“I always said we should treat the public like our customers, because that’s what they are,” he said. “I wanted to infuse a private-sector mindset into the organization.”
He also led the office’s transition into 21st-century technology and established the reputation as one of the leading jurisdictions in terms of accuracy in assessment.
“We always get good report cards from the state Department of Revenue,” Overton said.
As for what’s next, Overton said at age 62, it’s too soon to retire, so he’s probably headed back into the private sector, perhaps in the real estate field.
“I have a few offers, but first, I’m going to take some time off,” he said.
Overton also said voters probably won’t see his name on another ballot, but being a seasoned politician, he stopped short of making a hard-and-fast statement.
“I suspect I’ll not run for office again,” he said. “But never say never in politics.”
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