Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's latest plan to overhaul the way the city is governed comes to the City Council on Tuesday night. Johnson will ask his council colleagues to place his "Checks and Balances Act of 2012" on the June ballot and the council is expected to take action on his request.

So how did we get here? Johnson has proposed similar changes twice before, including a strong mayor initiative that a judge later tossed off the June 2010 ballot. Here are a few key questions facing the mayor and his opponents as Johnson pushes his trademark initiative once again.

What is the mayor's plan and how is it different from his previous proposals?

At its core, the plan gives the mayor more authority over key decisions made at City Hall.

In the current governing system, a city manager, appointed by the City Council, makes most day-to-day decisions. Under Johnson's plan, the mayor would become the city's chief executive, with power to fire and appoint the city manager, propose the budget and veto some council actions.

The council would have final say over the budget and the mayor's city manager appointee. It also would have veto override authority over the mayor and control of the city's charter officers, not including the city manager.

In Johnson's original plan, the mayor would have had authority over hundreds of city workers. For that reason, this proposal is considered a watered-down version of his original Strong Mayor Initiative.

The new plan also involves a series of changes to the City Charter that supporters argue will make city government more transparent, including an independent redistricting commission and a citizen ethics committee.

Who supports the plan and why?

Business groups, the city's public safety unions and a handful of pastors are the plan's chief proponents.

In many cases, those groups argue it's too difficult to get things done in the city when most decisions are made by an unelected city manager who answers to nine bosses.

Those groups also have been the mayor's most loyal supporters since he took office three years ago.

Two former mayors – Jimmie Yee and Phil Isenberg – support placing the plan on the ballot. And the campaign behind the measure has held a series of town halls with community groups, some of which have been supportive of the idea.

Who opposes the plan and why?

Many opponents remain from 2009, when unions and Democratic clubs fought Johnson's previous plan. Labor groups in particular don't like the plan.

Joan Bryant, the director of public employees for Local 39, City Hall's largest union, said this plan consists of "the same old stuff rehashed" from Johnson's previous proposal.

Local 39 and others often refer to Johnson's attempts to revise the city charter as "power grabs." That perception hasn't changed.

"(Johnson) wants to be able carte blanche to make decisions in the city without anybody scrutinizing him," Bryant said. "We still oppose it. There are just so many things that we need to be focusing on right now."

For his part, the mayor told The Bee's editorial board last week there had "been a lot of criticisms of the previous plans that have been addressed."

How important is this issue to Johnson?

Johnson has invested more effort in this issue than any other since taking office – including the push for a new Kings arena.

No matter the topic, the mayor seems able to tie it back to charter change, especially the part about giving his office more power.

In the conversation with The Bee's editorial board, the mayor spun three topics – the arena, homelessness and garbage collection – back to "strong mayor."

He said if he had more power over daily decisions, a request for qualifications from private companies interested in leasing downtown parking assets – a key peg in the arena financing plan – would not have been delayed.

He added that his repeated calls for establishing a city-sanctioned homeless camp, or safe ground, would not have been lost in City Hall's bureaucracy if he were a strong mayor.

And when it comes to garbage collection, an issue that frustrates some city residents, Johnson said he would be able "to hire a person (as city manager) with very clear expectations of a culture of high performance."

Where is the City Council leaning on the issue?

That is unclear.

City Hall handicappers place the council vote at anywhere from 5-4 in favor of a June ballot measure to 6-3 against it.

The swing vote could come down to Councilman Darrell Fong, who is being pushed by both sides. Fong said last week that he still hadn't made up his mind.

However, Fong also feels that city residents should be able to vote on whether to use public assets to help finance a new arena and could use a let-the-people-vote argument with strong mayor.

"They are two different things, but it crosses the threshold of people have the right to vote on issues they want to weigh in on," he said, adding he doesn't support Johnson's plan because it does not include term limits for the mayor and council.

What if the mayor fails to get the plan on the June ballot?

He'll immediately shift to collecting signatures from voters to place the plan on the November ballot.

Some might ask whether the measure could be placed on a ballot through a signature drive. The Strong Mayor Initiative of 2008 was proposed through a signature drive, but a judge said that it constituted a full-scale revision of the city charter and therefore could only be brought forward by an elected body – not by signatures.

The mayor's supporters said attorneys have looked at the latest plan and said it would withstand a legal challenge. But that's a fight down the road.

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Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085. Read his City Beat blog at sacbee.com/citybeat.

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