Section 8. The petition shall be substantially in the following form:

To the city council of the city of

We the undersigned, qualified voters of the city, respectfully petition your honorable body to cause to be submitted to a vote of the voters the following question:—''Shall the city of adopt the form of government defined as Plan (A, B, C, D, E or F, as it is desired by petitioners), and consisting of (describe plan briefly, as government by a mayor and nine councillors elected at large; or government by a mayor and councillors elected partly at large and partly from wards or districts; or government by five commissioners, one of whom shall be the mayor; or government by a city council, one member of which shall be the mayor, and having a city manager; or government by a city council to be elected at large by proportional representation, one member of which shall be the mayor, and having a city manager; or government by a mayor and councillors elected partly at large and partly from wards or districts with the mayor and city councillors to be nominated in party primaries and elected in party elections, as the case may be), with elections to be held (in the case of Plan A, B, or C, annually, or biennially in every odd numbered year, as it is desired by petitioners, or, in the case of Plan D, E or F, biennially in every odd numbered year) (and in the case of Plan F) and the mayor and the members of the city council to receive for their services such salary, not exceeding (in the case of a city having a population of less than fifty thousand, $15,000 annually, or, in the case of a city having a population of fifty thousand or more, $20,000 annually) for the mayor and (in the case of a city having a population of less than fifty thousand, $2,000 annually, or, in the case of a city having a population of fifty thousand or more, $3,000 annually) for a member of the city council, as the city council may by ordinance determine, according to chapter forty-three of the General Laws relating to city charters?''

The petition may be in the form of separate sheets, each sheet containing at the top thereof the heading above set forth, and when attached together and offered for filing the several papers shall be deemed to constitute one petition, and there shall be endorsed thereon the name and address of the person presenting the same for filing.