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There will be no "parity" for Tucson's mayor this year, as the City Council Tuesday voted down a city charter amendment that would have given the mayor the same voting powers as council members.

In a rare 4-3 split vote, the council voted against holding a public hearing on the charter amendment July 10, the last available council meeting at which it could vote to put an issue on the November ballot.

The measure, which was brought forward by Councilwoman Carol West, would have given the mayor the ability to count toward a quorum required to hold meetings and would give the mayor a vote to fire the city manager and other top officials, including the city clerk, city attorney, magistrates, police chief and fire chief.

He currently doesn't do either and also doesn't participate when the council votes to invoke an emergency, which avoids the 30-day waiting period for the action to take effect.

West said she brought the issue forward as a matter of "equity" and "parity," and implored the rest of council to rise above "partisan bickering" and "petty politics" to give the mayor the new powers.

But she couldn't persuade the rest of council to go along with her.

Council members Karin Uhlich, Shirley Scott, Steve Leal and Nina Trasoff voted against the measure, while West, Mayor Bob Walkup and Councilman Jose Ibarra voted for it. Ibarra said the changes were insignificant and voters should have the final say.

Those who voted against the measure gave a number of different reasons for their votes: not enough time to study the issue, not knowing how it would affect the "balance" on the council and just not wanting to give the mayor that power.

Leal said equity is not always a good thing, adding that it allows three members of the council to walk out of a meeting to block a vote. He said if the change was made, "a smaller group of the council and the mayor can marginalize all of us."

Leal equated changing the charter to messing with the "chromosomes" of the city — its charter.

Trasoff said she felt "terribly rushed" into making a decision by July 10, and Uhlich said she was unsure how the proposal would alter the balance of power on the council.

This is the fourth time in the past 10 years that an attempt to give the mayor added powers has failed.

The issue was on the ballot in 1997 and it was rejected by voters 54 to 46 percent.

In 2001, the mayor proposed the parity issues again, along with two other moves: expanding the number of city wards from six to eight and holding nonpartisan local elections.

The council didn't vote for it but instead created a blue-ribbon panel to study the issue.

The panel later recommended the three charter changes be put on the 2003 ballot, but interest on the council later cooled and it never happened.