Third Ward city councilwoman Marian Clennon said Tuesday that she will run for mayor this year in an effort to oust an incumbent she doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with.

The 53-year-old first-term council member can officially file her candidacy from May 18 to June 1, which is Austin’s filling period for all public offices. To date, incumbent Mayor Tom Stiehm is the only other person to announce plans to run for the position.

Clennon said her decision to jump into the race was largely influenced by Stiehm’s intentions.

“I don’t want to say the current mayor is doing anything wrong,” she said. “I just see that I could do things differently.”

Specifically, Clennon said she’d focus on getting more citizens involved with city politics, something she thinks Stiehm could do better.

“This position can motivate the general public a little bit,” she said. “The mayor is one that does more of the public relations. I really feel that’s something I could do a little differently to get more of the citizens involved.”

Clennon said this type of grassroots involvement is something she’s comfortable with — her political start in Austin was organizing opposition to a dog park in her neighborhood. The councilwoman said similar citizen organization around other issues, in the form of loose citizen committees, could be a useful part of the policy making process.

For Clennon, the transition from grassroots organizer to councilwoman to mayor would be very fast — the dog park issue surfaced in 2008, and Clennon only started on council in 2009. During this relative whirlwind, the councilwoman said running for mayor wasn’t something she thought of right away.

“A year ago, seriously, it wasn’t even on my mind,” Clennon said.

But now the councilwoman is planning to campaign against an incumbent, never an easy task in any type of election. Clennon admitted it will be tough to raise enough money and support to knock off Stiehm, but she feels confident that she can do it.

“I’ll do what I did last time I ran for City Council. I’ll go to as many doors (as I can),” Clennon said. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could win.”

Stiehm, who would be running for his third term if he does in fact file, said it’ll be good to have Clennon — who he described as his “polar opposite” — in the race.

“If you have someone else run, you want them to be different,” the mayor said. “(The vote) just depends on which way people want to go.”

As of now, Austin citizens are looking at going one of two ways, but their choices could certainly increase once the filing period opens and then closes. Two years ago, Stiehm received two challengers, one of whom was eliminated in a primary. The other, local business owner Mark Nagle, actually filed on the deadline day and ended up giving Stiehm quite the run for his money — the 2008 mayoral election was decided by only 41 votes and required a recount.

Clennon, of course, wants to do even better than Nagle. She said she’s received some support from city officials and others she’s spoken with about the idea, which has given her reason for optimism and encouraged her to go forward. However, Clennon might get less support from the current council, largely because of disagreements on recent votes — chief among them being the dispute over changes to the city charter.

The councilwoman acknowledged that there have been issues, but she said she doesn’t think she’s burned bridges.

“I always feel that no matter what differences we have, we still have to work together,” Clennon said. “I’m always willing to mend that fence.”

However, at least one council member has already questioned the timing of Clennon’s decision and has voiced support for Stiehm.

Janet Anderson, the councilwoman at-large who herself is planning on running for re-election this fall, said in an e-mail that she’s “surprised” Clennon wouldn’t first finish her four-year term — it ends in 2012 — before going for mayor.

“It will be interesting to hear her thoughts about this decision,” Anderson added.

Another potential challenge — at least in the realm of public appearance — is Clennon’s job at Hormel, where she works in the claims division. While being employed by a major corporation and serving as a policymaker might lend some to suggest that a conflict of interest exists, Clennon said Hormel has made a point not to blur the lines.

“They don’t come to me and say, ‘We have this thing we want to do and we want you to help us get it through,’” the councilwoman said. “They have really kept their distance from me.”

Clennon added: “I want people to elect (based) on me … Not because I work for Hormel.”

The election for mayor of Austin, as well as other city and state offices, will be held Nov. 2.