The committee is expected to have seven to nine members, who will take six to eight months to review the charter and recommend changes to the city's aldermen by the start of the next fiscal year in July.

The committee will review the city's charter, which mandates the structure of the city's government and the operation of various city departments, among other details of city functions.

The city's charter was last reviewed in 2007, and the aldermen last approved changes in 2013.

One issue that's seen as almost certain to come up in the committee's discussions is whether to move to aldermanic representation by districts. Currently, the five aldermen are elected citywide.

Alderman Derek Shackelford brought up the issue of district representation as soon as O'Connor announced the formation of the charter review committee in September.

Shackelford said Tuesday that he thinks going to districts would help make representation in the city more effective and efficient.

The question is what type of city people want to have as the city grows over the next 10 to 20 years, he said.

Having aldermen represent specific districts would improve accountability and engagement, he said.

Alderman Kelly Russell said she thinks having five aldermen who each represent all of the city improves representation, as one person doesn't have to carry the load for a whole area.

She worries that some districts' representatives would be more engaged than others, and individual districts could end up pitting parts of the city against each other in various situations.

Russell said she's happy to have a conversation about moving to districts, but she would have to hear a compelling argument to support a change.

Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak said she also worries that an alderman would fight for their district rather than the city as a whole.

“Every elected official should be held accountable by every resident in the city,” Kuzemchak said.

Kuzemchak also worries about finding enough qualified candidates to represent districts, noting that only nine candidates ran in the aldermanic primary in last year's city election.

The city raised the pay of aldermen to $11,000 in 2009, but the job requires a significant dedication of time for someone who has a family or a business, she said.

“It's hard to do this job and also have a full-time job,” Kuzemchak said.

She said she would have to see a proposal to decide whether it's something she would support, but doesn't think aldermanic districts are something most people in the city care much about.

Alderwoman Katie Nash said she wants to see what the committee recommends, but would want to make sure that areas that historically underrepresented areas would keep the same level of representation that they have today.

She wondered if the city is big enough to have a healthy field of candidates for all districts, especially if the number of aldermen expands.

The city will have to take its time and proceed carefully to avoid any unintended consequences of a change, she said.

“Changing the way that we've done it is a big step, and we just have to be thoughtful in how we do it,” Nash said.