Before we go down the path toward the ill-conceived and hastily prepared 8/8 council downsizing proposal, let me suggest an alternative: submit the recently rejected charter proposal as a home-rule petition. With one minor change. Make the eight ward-tethered councilors elected by ward. 

Apart from the glaring error of at-large ward-tethered councilors, the proposed charter is a thoughtful document. The down-sized council is not the only change to the charter in the proposal. The Yes folks should embrace ward representation* as a compromise to get a right-sized council. We’d have a charter proposal that would get enormous support. We could even have a non-binding referendum to test the hypothesis.

There’s a meeting on the 8/8 hack tonight in City Hall at 7:30 PM. Let’s reject the hack and tweak the commission’s good work.

Oh, and fix the $%$& charter objection language.

* Yup, I went there.