The speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, called on Mayor Bloomberg yesterday to put the controversial West Side stadium proposal on November’s ballot as a referendum.

The move would have been bolder if a fellow Democratic mayoral candidate, Fernando Ferrer, had not issued the same demand during a television interview just last Friday.

When asked why he had not credited Mr. Ferrer with the idea, Mr. Miller said his opponent deserved recognition but seeking a referendum vote was not a “radical” idea.

“Placing this issue on November’s ballot is the right, democratic thing to do given the lack of public participation,” Mr. Miller told reporters during a news conference. He and other stadium opponents said the public was being shut out of the process.

Until now, Mr. Miller, has attacked Mr. Bloomberg’s stadium plan, which would use $300 million of city money, but the speaker has not taken any action to defeat it. He has complained that the City Council was excluded from the review process because the mayor chose to bypass the standard land-use approval procedure.

In addition to calling for a referendum, the speaker announced yesterday the council would hold several public hearings and create a “coalition” to make sure the financially strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owns the proposed stadium site, does not sell air rights over its Hudson Rail Yards for less than market value.

Though it is not clear what impact either approach will have on the outcome, the initiative is a clear sign that Mr. Miller is trying to stake a claim in an area of potential vulnerability for the mayor, who has been criticized for his aggressive we-know-best approach.

As they did when Mr. Ferrer called for a referendum, the mayor’s office shot down the idea yesterday, saying it would destroy the city’s chances to win over the International Olympic Committee and get the 2012 games. The decision on which city to select is due to be made in early July.

“Sounds like Gifford has become a pawn of Cablevision, the selfish monopoly which devised this scam in the first place,” a spokeswoman for the mayor, Jennifer Falk, said in a statement. Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden, whose management has led efforts to quash the Jets deal.

Mr. Ferrer’s campaign spokeswoman, Jennifer Bluestein, said the former Bronx borough president was “delighted that Gifford Miller has joined him on his call for a referendum on the West Side stadium.”

Mr. Miller disputed that his backing of the referendum was just a rehash of competitor’s idea.

“We are not just saying there should be a referendum, we’re actually taking action in order to make sure there’s public review before these public authorities make a decision,” he said. Others, including Council Member Christine Quinn, who represents the West Side district, agreed.

The speaker also defended waiting to take a position on the Jets stadium. He was one of the last public officials to take a stand on the issue and then, when he did go public in November, echoed the concerns of the city comptroller, William Thompson Jr., about the financing structure of the project.

A political science professor at Baruch College, Douglas Muzzio, said that the speaker should not be faulted for taking up the referendum concept and that it did not seem to be indicative of a larger me-too syndrome.

“What happens is that people latch on to good ideas,” Mr. Muzzio said. “What matters here is that Gifford is going to be on the right side of this issue. There’s no evidence to suggest that he is going to run a copycat campaign. He’s been out in front on a number of issues.”

Mr. Muzzio did say, however, that it will get more difficult for all of the five Democratic candidates to distinguish themselves because there are only so many unique positions available. The others are Rep. Anthony Weiner, Council Member Charles Barron, and the Manhattan borough president, C. Virginia Fields.

Mr. Ferrer’s suggestion came just days after a Quinnipiac University poll found that 58% of city residents were opposed to building the stadium and more than a quarter said they would be less likely to vote for Mr. Bloomberg because of it.

Mr. Bloomberg appointed a Charter Revision Commission last year to consider referendum issues. The mayor’s critics said creating the commission was a way to block any threat of a referendum on the Jets stadium. Under state law, a mayoral referendum supersedes any other proposed ballot question.

The City Council could create a charter commission of its own – a move that would put pressure on the mayor. That course, a spokesman for Mr. Miller, Stephen Sigmund, said yesterday, was not being actively pursued but had not yet been ruled out.

The first council hearing is scheduled for February 7.