Another push by city councilors to form a charter commission may put the question out to voters in November – and put the city’s strong-mayor form of government under review.

“I think there’s a valid, public conversation that needs to be had about whether we want to keep the kind of government we have,” said Councilor Drew Gattine, who requested Monday the Committee of the Whole take up the topic at its June 29 meeting.

The council had the same discussion last year, but didn’t vote until the last meeting before a deadline to put the question on the ballot – a meeting where two councilors who supported forming a charter commission were absent.

The measure failed in a 3-3 vote, split along party lines, with Democrats Rielly, Dotty Aube and Mike Foley voting to send the question to referendum and Republicans Lyle Cramer, John O’Hara and Mayor Bruce Chuluda voting against it. Gattine and Suzanne Joyce, both Democrats, were not at the meeting.

A charter commission would consist of six elected members and three people appointed by the City Council. A commission would convene for a year to review the existing charter and make recommendations about changes, which could significantly alter the way Westbrook’s government operates. The commission’s recommendations would have to be approved by voters.

Some councilors say it’s important to consider how the city operates, rather than just accept things for how they are.

“We do things the way we do simply because that’s the way it’s always been done,” Gattine said. “That bothers me a little bit.”

Gattine said he’s not opposed to having an elected mayor, but he believes the mayor should have an even stronger role in the city.

According to the Maine Municipal Association, Westbrook is one of only four cities in the state to have a strong mayor form of government, where the mayor is elected by the citizens and has broad powers of appointment, administration and legislation. The mayor calls council meetings and sets the agenda, but doesn’t vote on the majority of city business. The mayor does, however, have the power to veto decisions made by the council.

Gattine said he’d like the mayor be a voting member of the council.

Chuluda, who will finish up his third two-year term as mayor in November, believes that if there’s nothing wrong, there’s no reason to make changes.

“There’s a possibility of changing our entire form of government that has worked fine for many years,” Chuluda said.

“Change for change’s sake is not what a charter commission should be for,” O’Hara said.

But there are some changes to the charter O’Hara would like to see made. He believes city councilors and School Committee members should all have three-year terms with staggered elections. Currently, councilors are all up for re-election at the same time, every two years. There are no term limits for councilors or the mayor.

However, O’Hara isn’t sure that one item is worth opening the entire charter to review and change.

“The charter is acceptable at this point for the community to get its business done on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Chuluda said there are some adjustments to the charter that could be made more easily by the City Council.

“There are ways to make some changes without going through this,” said the mayor.

Chuluda said he hopes the Committee of the Whole has a “a very lengthy and substantive discussion” before he and the councilors vote whether to put the question out to the residents.

“This is something the voters ought to have a chance to chime in on,” Gattine said. “We might end up with something exactly the same or very, very similar to what we have now.”