A referendum on whether to review Westbrook’s charter is now looking likely for June 2010.

The city’s Municipal Officers, which include the seven city councilors and the mayor, voted unanimously Monday to table the issue until September.

The formation of a commission to study the charter has been a topic of discussion in front of the Municipal Officers since last year. Though a majority of them have supported holding a referendum about the charter review, logistics continue to delay the process.

Last year, two councilors who supported forming a charter commission were absent from the meeting when it was taken up, and then voted down, in a 3-3 tie. This year, specifics in the state’s statute for creating the commission have put up another temporary roadblock.

The commission is made up of nine members. Six are elected, and three are appointed by the council. If voters approve the formation of a charter commission, its members must be elected within 200 days of that vote.

Councilors agreed that they didn’t want to hold both the referendum and the election of the members at the same time, but also that they’d like the votes to coincide with other elections, held in November and June. However, the June election would occur more than 200 days after the November one.

Councilors who support holding the referendum decided it would be more appropriate to hold that in June, and the election of members in November, which would meet the time requirements of the statute.

The statute also says the referendum must be held at the next municipal election, 90 days after the council decides to put it on the ballot. That means, if the council wants to hold the referendum in June, it can’t decide to do so until September.

At the meeting Monday, councilors and the mayor maintained the same positions they’ve had since last year, with Democrats Brendan Rielly, Drew Gattine, Suzanne Joyce and Dotty Aube in support of a referendum and Republicans John O’Hara, Lyle Cramer and Mayor Bruce Chuluda opposed.

“I still think that not enough substantive discussion has been centered around this,” Chuluda said.

He added that the lack of public participation in the discussion indicated that his suspicions are right – a charter commission isn’t something Westbrook residents care about.

Rielly disagreed. He said though they may not be calling for a charter commission by name, he’s encountered a lot of constituents in his time in office who question why Westbrook’s government runs the way it does and wonder if there are better ways of doing things.

The Municipal Officers are scheduled to vote on scheduling a June referendum on Sept. 14.