Members of the Sacramento City Council say they're open to discussing changes in how the city is governed. Most of them just don't want to do it Mayor Kevin Johnson's way.

After five hours of public comment and council debate Tuesday night, Johnson's council colleagues failed to act on his request for a June vote on his strong-mayor plan. Instead, they embraced a more cautious solution: a possible charter review commission, manned by 15 elected commissioners.

The City Attorney's Office will explore the idea and report back to the council in three weeks. If the council moves forward, it could decide to ask voters in November if they want to form the body.

It wasn't the first time Councilman Kevin McCarty had proposed such a commission, but his idea found sudden traction Tuesday night.

"It provides a grass-roots, citizen-driven effort," McCarty said.

The mayor's aides were quick to criticize McCarty's plan Wednesday morning, saying it would act as little more than a platform for wannabe politicians.

"Having a body twice the size of the City Council stocked with aspiring politicians is a recipe for disaster," said Steve Maviglio, a lead consultant for the mayor's re-election campaign. "You get a special interest-dominated board of people with a political ax to grind, and that's exactly what the people behind it want."

The council also kept the mayor's plan alive – if only barely. Council members asked the City Attorney's Office to tweak Johnson's plan and come back with the proposal in three weeks.

Johnson said he would spend the time trying to assemble enough council votes to place his plan on the ballot. Only two of the eight council members – Angelique Ashby and Jay Schenirer – expressed full support for the mayor's proposal to place his measure on the ballot at Tuesday's meeting.

"I'm an optimist," the mayor said. "I'll continue to work to convince council members it's the right thing to do."

Under Johnson's plan, the mayor would appoint and fire the city manager, propose the budget and could veto some City Council actions. The council would approve the mayor's city manager appointment and budget, and have veto override authority.

At Tuesday's meeting, council members asked that the plan be revised to include term limits for the mayor. They also asked for stricter guidelines for the removal of the city manager.

While the majority didn't embrace Johnson's proposal, several council members expressed some appetite for changing how City Hall operates.

"Given how long it's been since we've had a major charter reform effort, it is time to seriously review what needs to be in the charter," said Councilman Steve Cohn.

McCarty said Wednesday he proposed the charter commission because it was clear the council would shoot down Johnson's latest plan – "and even if we said no, it would come back again."

So instead, McCarty said, he is attempting to move the debate forward. His proposed commission would likely work for months debating changes to the city charter. Any proposed changes would be put before voters.

Even as momentum shifted toward an elected commission, those addressing the council Tuesday focused their attention on Johnson himself.

Opponents said the mayor's latest plan was a power grab, orchestrated by interest groups seeking to wield greater control over the mayor's chair. Others, including some members of the City Council, said city residents are not clamoring for the changes Johnson has proposed.

"I don't feel the case has been made that this is what the people want," said Councilman Rob Fong. "This, to me, feels like a special-interest initiative."

More than 50 people testified before the council, with those supporting the change outnumbering opponents. Most speakers represented special-interest groups, including business associations, public safety groups and labor unions.

The most vocal opponents continued to be labor unions and local Democratic Party interests.

"If this proposal is approved, Mayor Johnson's wealthy, behind-the-scenes friends will control Sacramento," said Democratic activist Conny Anderson.

Johnson's supporters pointed to the mayor's track record in arguing a change is needed. Pastor Rick Cole of Capital Christian Center said Johnson should be lauded for his work on homelessness and given the tools to expand that success.

Others, including officials with the unions representing city police officers and firefighters, said the city's budget process has left them frustrated and they would prefer a system in which the mayor proposes the budget.

Still others said an unelected city manager shouldn't have so much power.

"You have to have someone who is accountable to the people," said Josh Wood of Region Builders, a coalition of building trade groups.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.

• Read more articles by Ryan Lillis