MIDDLETOWN — Voters won’t have their say this election season on whether to move to nonpartisan Town Council elections or four-year terms.

The Town Council on Tuesday night, in a 4-to-2 vote, rejected proposals by the volunteer Charter Review Commission to place those referendums — as well as one for term limits — on the November ballot. Councilmen Louis P. DiPalma Jr. and Edward J. Silveira’s support for the initiatives was defeated by council President Paul M. Rodrigues and members Barbara A. Barrow, Shirley R. Mello and M. Theresa Santos. (Councilman Robert J. Sylvia was absent.)

Rodrigues said yesterday that he doesn’t support nonpartisan elections because they are “un-American” and don’t encourage newcomers to run for office.

“I think the two-party system has value,” Rodrigues said. “Unless you’re really involved or you’ve run a campaign before, the parties help you. They help you financially and help you meet all the [filing] dates. There’s a lot they do behind the scenes that people don’t know about.”

While Rodrigues said he’s not opposed to term limits, he said he wants to stick with two-year council terms. He said residents have told him that they want to be able to vote out politicians after two years, rather than four, if they’re not happy with their representation.

Barbara A. VonVillas, chairwoman of the Charter Commission, said yesterday that she was disappointed by the council’s vote. The topic of nonpartisan elections came up during the last charter review effort, in 2002, but the council at that time chose to place on the ballot a question on making only School Committee races party-free. (That question passed.)

“I’m frustrated that some council members think that they shouldn’t give the voter the opportunity to choose,” VonVillas said. “It was proposed by the charter committee in 2002, it was brought up again in 2006 and 2007, and here we are with another committee saying the exact same thing. Yet certain council members feel that they know better than the voters. It is frustrating to the extent that something that apparently has legs of its own is not even going to get the opportunity to be on the ballot.”

While the proposals to strip party affiliation from council elections and increase members’ terms to four years won’t be on the November ballot, voters will get to decide on whether to establish a provision for removing council members from office. Under the proposed new charter language, voters would have to collect signatures from 20 percent of the town’s registered voters to launch a recall referendum.

The council also agreed to include ballot questions that would strengthen the language on conflict-of-interest rules for town officials and the restrictions on council interference in the town administrator’s duties. The proposed charter changes also include new designations for existing town departments and a number of minor updates that, for example, correct errors or make the charter’s language gender-neutral.

The Charter Commission has also proposed restricting the town from issuing bonds in excess of 1 percent of the tax levy without a voter referendum. (Currently, the charter requires referendums for bonds of more than $100,000.)

The town will now forward the charter-amendment language to the secretary of state’s office for inclusion on the local ballot.

mwims@projo.com