It took nearly a year, but a nine-member commission to review the City Charter, the city’s state-approved constitution, is finally set up and starting work.

The advisory group that City Council created met Monday and received a brief overview from City Attorney Haskell C. Brown about previous efforts to modify or amend the current charter that dates back to 1948.

The council agreed to set up the commission in December 2021, then took three months to put legislation in place and another seven months to appoint the members, one from each district.

Among the charter changes the commission was set up to consider is whether the at-large mayor should be a member of the council as is the case in Norfolk, rather than continuing to be independent.

The commission also could consider whether council members’ four-year terms should be staggered to allow for four or five

members to be elected two years into a mayor’s term; whether the council should be able to amend the budget on a par with the mayor; and whether the council should set the salaries of its members rather than leaving it to the General Assembly.

Under the ordinance approved last March to create the commission, the group has until June to present recommendations to the council and the mayor.

In forming the commission, the council had indicated a wish to have a full package of changes approved and ready to present to the General Assembly for approval in the 2024 session.

The commission’s chair is Dr. Thad Williamson, an associate professor at the University of Richmond with experience in city government. That includes his service as the first director of the city’s anti-poverty initiative known as the Office of Community Wealth Building under Mayor Dwight C. Jones and as a policy adviser to Mayor Levar M. Stoney.

Other members include Vice Chair Rachael Deane and Antoine Williams, Bre’Auna Beasley, William Echelberger Jr., Kyle El- liott, Travis Gunn, Willette King and Steven Koski.