A bill under consideration by the state Legislature would set into motion a review of Medford’s city charter, starting with the election of a nine-person Charter Commission in November.

Medford Rep. Paul Donato and Sen. Patricia Jehlen filed the bill April 6 after the Medford City Council voted in February to petition the Legislature to establish a Charter Commission, bypassing the requirement for a resident-coordinated petition signed by at least 15 percent of registered voters.

The Feb. 23 decision went 4-3, with Council Vice President Breanna Lungo-Koehn and Councilors Michael Marks, John Falco and George Scarpelli voting in favor.

Council President Fred Dello Russo Jr. and Councilors Rick Caraviello and Adam Knight voted in opposition. Although not opposed to reviewing the charter, the three councilors said they would prefer residents initiate the process by collecting the roughly 5,300 required signatures.

“To bypass that process is problematic,” Knight said after the vote. “I certainly think this is a noble cause. But I disagree with the process.”

After the council’s vote, City Solicitor Mark Rumley drafted a Home Rule Petition to the Legislature for a Charter Commission. With approval of the council and Mayor Stephanie M. Burke, the petition was sent to state legislators in early March — leading to the bill filed last month by Donato and Jehlen.

According to the Legislature’s website, House Bill No. 4227 is “an act authorizing the election of a charter commission in the city of Medford at the state election (presidential election) to take place on Nov. 8, 2016.”

The bill was referred to the Committee on Election Laws last month and, according to an April 28 letter from Donato to councilors, Donato has requested the committee’s chairman schedule a hearing on the bill “as soon as possible.”

No review of the charter has taken place since 1986, when residents voted to change Medford’s form of government from a strong City Council under Plan E to Plan A, which gives the mayor more authority to run the city.

“I would ask that we as a council send a letter to the chairman of the committee on election laws to establish a public hearing and to show that the city council is in support,” said Marks at the body’s May 3 meeting. “I think we need to also work with our state delegation to make sure this gets shepherded through the process.”

According to the bill, the legislation would eliminate the requirement that a question be submitted to voters asking whether the current charter should be revised or another charter adopted.

Once elected in the fall, the nine-person commission would have about eight months to decide whether to recommend any revisions or amendments to the city’s current Plan A charter, according to the bill.

The commission would be required to submit a final report with any proposed revisions or amendments on or before June 30, 2017.

Any recommended revisions or amendments would then be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 7, 2017, municipal election.

— Read the bill in full here.