Five of the seven members of the Stephenville City Council voted Tuesday to reject an order of election on Nov. 4 to amend the city charter and reduce the number of council members from eight plus a mayor to six plus a mayor.

Five former mayors and two former council members addressed the council suggesting that reducing the number of council members would improve efficiency without being discriminatory or reducing representation of the electorate.

Former mayor Rusty Jergins said that during his tenure from 2004 to 2008, and as a council member before that, there were often nine opinions on issues, making arriving at a decision difficult. He said of the 1,211 cities in the state, 841 had five-member councils, 166 had six-member councils, and 18 had eight-member councils. He said Dublin and Stephenville are two of the seven city councils with eight members in cities with populations of less than 20,000.

Jergins was joined by four other former mayors and two former council members in urging the council to approve the order of election to allow the voters to decide whether to reduce the size of the council.

Councilman Malcolm said he did not agree with reducing the council size and would vote against it if an election was called, but he favored putting it on the ballot and letting the voters decide. He was joined in voting for the order of elections by councilmen Alan Nash and Scott Evans.

Councilman Pat Shelbourne stated several reasons he did not think the number should be reduced and stated that he did not support putting the matter before the voters. He said members of the council were elected to make those decisions. He was joined in his opposition by councilmen Rusty McDanel, Alan Nix and Mark Murphy.

Murphy originally stated he was opposed to the reduction but would vote in favor of the order calling an election. He said he changed his position after hearing Shelbourne's position and agreed that the council members were elected to do the "people's job."

Mayor Nancy Hunter did not cast a vote.