The San Diego City Council’s odd couple will host a town hall meeting Wednesday to discuss open government, reform and what it will take to restore the public’s trust in elected officials.

District 6 City Council member and Democrat Donna Frye and District 5 Council member-elect Republican Carl DeMaio have created a bipartisan initiative to examine and effect change regarding rules and policies governing the council.

“[Constituents] are frustrated, they’re appalled with some of the behavior at City Council meetings, and they expect us to clean up the act down there,” DeMaio said. “They want us to set a higher bar.”

At the forum, Frye and DeMaio hope to generate dialogue about the city’s budget, public participation in council meetings, council oversight of all branches of city government and decorum at city hall.

“The SEDC is a shining example of the need for the City Council to have better oversight of all elements of city government,” DeMaio said.

Last month, City Attorney Michael Aguirre filed suit against the outgoing president of the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. for approving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses for herself and SEDC employees that were not authorized by city officials.

DeMaio and Frye say the upcoming election is an opportunity to reform the City Council, which was marred in 2006 by the revelation the council had increased employee pensions while simultaneously reducing funding for them.

DeMaio said he hopes participants come armed with ideas to improve the transparency and the effectiveness of the council.

“[The forum] is going to be an opportunity for residents to share ideas and express frustration,” he said. “Some parting members of the City Council are so out of touch, they don’t realize how low the public holds them.”

The alliance between Frye and DeMaio, the first openly gay man elected to the City Council, has raised eyebrows. Respectively, they represent the city’s more liberal and conservative districts.

They share, however, a commitment to open government, DeMaio said.

“That means people have access to government, people can access information easily; they have the right to know,” DeMaio said. “They have a right to know what’s happening and a right to participate. Open government is where Donna and I have most of our shared views and shared goals, though there are other areas as well.”

The Wednesday forum, which will begin at 6 p.m. and is hosted at the Scripps Ranch Library (10301 Scripps Lake Drive) will feature Frye and DeMaio, members of the San Diego City Council, and candidates for the three vacancies on the council. District 3 candidates Todd Gloria and Stephen Whitburn, who Frye endorsed, say reform and neighborhood input at City Hall are key issues for constituents.

“I don’t know any candidate running against reform or transparent government,” said Gloria said. “We expect every candidate and every elected official to adhere to high standards, high ethics and morals.”

“People really want to do away with the good old boys network in San Diego, and have a city government that is working for the neighborhoods and in which the people have more of a say in the decisions being made,” Whitburn said. “We definitely need to talk about reforms at City Hall and I think that any discussion about gathering public input and putting reforms into action is useful.”