Just two people spoke Monday during the Hartford City Council’s virtual public hearing on proposed charter revisions, but both wanted the same thing: an expanded city council with more oversight of the mayor’s office.

It’s a stance that has traction with at least two current council members.

Alyssa Peterson, who called the charter revision commission’s work “a colossal failure,” said the city council needed to be expanded from its current nine at-large members to at least 15 members, with representation from all of Hartford’s neighborhoods.

“Our small at-large council of nine is a relic of the city manager form of government, which now resulted in less voter participation and executive oversight,” she said. “Instead, Hartford needs more focused representation of residents, businesses and institutions by an expanded number of council [members] elected by district or by neighborhood.”

Peterson noted that other Connecticut cities, including New Britain, Bridgeport and New Haven have governing councils of 15 to 30 members.

“These kinds of numbers would ensure residents, businesses and institutions located in a neighborhood or district could be represented by advocates for their specific area every two years,” she said. “People would be forced to work across the city to govern collectively with true executive oversight of a strong mayor and our various council committees would be better attended.”

That structure would put an end to the pendulum of power swinging back and forth over the past 20 years from a strong mayor to a strong council president, then back to a strong mayor, she said. Peterson also said five Board of Education members should be elected.

“It [currently] only takes five at-large council [members] representing no specific neighborhood to eliminate executive oversight and hand over the power of the purse to the mayor,” she said. “Our Hartford neighborhoods and schools have never suffered so badly. If you’re not living in a certain area of downtown, or a select section of Parkville, you see it and feel it. Many formerly good schools are practically empty and I’m so ashamed to look at our once-beautiful Franklin Avenue now so decrepit and ugly and dangerous.”

Angela Harris, a Hartford resident also speaking on behalf of the Greater Hartford African American Alliance, agreed with Peterson in calling for an expanded city council “to have the city council be a true checks and balances to the strong mayor form of government with all of our neighborhoods basically represented.”

The changes are not too drastic, she said.

“The excuse that we don’t want to make too many changes at once to me is ludicrous,” she said. “This is the time to make changes and substantive changes. I would ask you to consider having more representation from the community and also … to have the election of the city council not be tied to the election of the mayor so that there is no such thing as the mayor’s slate. If you are in someone’s pocket, you cannot be that person’s checks and balances. So if he or she feels they have gotten their office you are subsequently beholden to that person and that should not be. Our city council needs to have an independent voice. You need to have your own autonomy if you are going to represent the citizens of the city of Hartford.”

Harris also noted that six of the commission’s 14 members — including all four Black members — stepped aside, but did not resign, because of internal strife.

“It was very disappointing that their work fell apart toward the end of their tenure before these recommended amendments were finalized,” she said.

Two city councilors — Majority Leader TJ Clarke, a Democrat, and Josh Michtom of the Working Families Party — and have expressed their support for greater representation on the council.

Michtom, in a Twitter thread, cited both speakers in support of an expanded council

“Alyssa Peterson is right: a larger, district-based city council would be better suited to rein in our too-powerful mayor,” he said. “The Charter Revision Commission heard from experts who said that a district-based system — which could protect minority party representation — would do more than anything else to increase voter participation. And then ... they ignored what they’d learned and kept the status quo.”

Clarke said he would like more members on the council and more neighborhoods represented because some of the current councilors live in “close proximity” with one another.

“It is something I’ve spoken to some of the commissioners about and also to my colleagues,” he said. “By virtue of more civic engagement, it’s something that should be taken into consideration. … We are a city of 120,000-plus residents, so there is some notion there needs to be more consideration for more balance and equity.”

Clarke said he supports a hybrid model of at-large members as well as city council members that represent districts.

“I think there are options to consider,” he said.

Other council members, Clarke said, would also like to see the issue sent back to the commission for discussion and the city council to vote on, but it’s unclear whether a majority support it.

Time, however, is an issue. The city council ultimately has to vote on the proposed charter changes sometime in August. Leading up to that vote, there is a committee meeting, followed by a likely special meeting of the city council to send any changes it has back to the charter revision commission, Clarke said. The commission then sends its finalized version back to the city council for a vote so the proposed changes appear on the November ballot.

That window doesn’t leave much time to hammer out what the expanded council would look like.

“I don’t think there has been an in-depth analysis of how that would look and then as to how that would be impactful to the city’s budget,” Clarke said.

Peterson, for her part, said she is gathering signatures on a petition to put an alternative on the November ballot.