A nine-member task force will be asked to report back in a year on options to reduce the size of London's city council.

That's the recommendation headed for approval by city council Monday after it met in committee of the whole last night.

It's the third task force to look at governance in 14 years.

"This review is focused on a smaller council," said Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best.

"Of course, how we get there can be many different ways. We haven't precluded any options."

The debate exposed a 19-member council clearly unsure of where it wants to go.

Opinions ranged from maintaining the status quo, to abolishing council's board of control, to reducing the number of councillors and wards.

The motion was hammered out behind the scenes by DeCicco-Best and Coun. Susan Eagle, whose original motion called for a review assuming board of control is abolished.

Eagle said she's determined to respect the outcome of a 2003 referendum in which 55 per cent of voters wanted the board abolished and 77 per cent wanted a smaller council.

"If you take away board of control, you accomplish both," said Eagle. "There's an issue of integrity. We need to respect that democratic process and the answer came back to us."

The task force will include representatives of the Urban League of London, the London Chamber of Commerce, the London District Labour Council, two councillors, one controller and three citizens.

Councillors Roger Caranci and Cheryl Miller called for a citizen task force to examine the city's entire governance structure.

"It's not about whether we have a board of control or not," said Caranci.

"The average citizen doesn't even understand what the board does. It's about how do the citizens of London get better government. You have to put everything on the table and discuss it."

The issue has dogged London -- the only city in Canada with a board of control elected city-wide -- for decades.

The board functions as an executive committee that oversees legal, property, contractual, purchasing and strategic planning issues. The board's decisions must be ratified by a simple majority of full council.

Last term, council voted to maintain the status quo. But the citizens' group Imagine London appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, which ruled it favour of a new 14-ward electoral system.

Imagine London founder Sam Trosow said he was impressed with the decision.

"We've finally reached a point on council where there's some balance, where people have to take what others say seriously," he said.

"In the end, regardless of what the task force recommends, council is still going to make a decision."

RESHAPING CITY COUNCIL

Issues task force will explore:

- Examine the possibility of reducing council's size and how it's elected (citywide versus elections by wards).

- Review the roles and responsibilities of board of control and models to replace it.

- Review ward boundaries, especially minor concerns raised in last fall's election.

- File interim report in December, final report next June.