Cambridge City Council candidate Vincent L. Dixon smiles as he says he will “bring something to this race that’s very different.”

Dixon says he has big ideas for bringing city government closer to the people, even as the voters he says he would represent leave the city due to increasing housing costs.

A central aspect of Dixon’s platform is “The New Model Charter,” a plan which would alter the current charter of the city of Cambridge and change the structure of its government.

The proposed charter would establish the office of a directly elected chief executive mayor, who would have the power to appoint nearly all appointed city officials, subject to confirmation by the City Council.

“I want to reconnect people to the government,” Dixon says.

Under Cambridge’s current Plan E form of government, the city councillors choose the mayor from among themselves in what is typically a protracted process.

“The New Model Charter” would also alter Cambridge’s voting process. Instead of the current proportional voting system which elects nine councillors from across the city, Dixon advocates a system with six at-large council members elected by proportional representation as well as nine council members directly elected from nine neighborhood districts.

Dixon’s proposal would also create a “City Cabinet” that would oversee all departments, boards and commissions of the city government.

Dixon formally submitted the charter to the City Council last summer and continues to advocate its major changes. He concedes that he does not expect to pass the proposed charter in its entirety, but says he expects that parts of the charter proposal will pass.

Dixon, who describes himself as “conservative on economic issues, and progressive on social issues,” is registered as a Republican, but is running for the City Council without a party affiliation.

He is not new to city politics, having made several runs for the City Council before. In his last run for the council, in 1999, he finished 20th out of 24 candidates.

Born in Cambridge in 1952, the Harvard Street resident has been a longtime member of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association.

Dixon, who works as a consultant,

also gives historic guided tours in Harvard Square and hosts two weekly programs on Cambridge Community Television on classical music and interviews and news in the city.