Mare, Im not so much as proposing a diplomat but someone who is the 'contact woman' for whatever the replacement council is. Essently, I think the council should consist of anyone that feels like showing up. We then pick a single person to speak for us, that person should know what our feelings are on certain issues and be able to replate them in a diplomatic manner, but this person would not be a diplomat in the true sense of the word, as this person would have no real authority other than to say 'I'll pass that on to the others' and let us others know what was said.
As for the old council, pfft, its dead. Who cares. We zoners need no petty council, we just need to have a forum to get together, hash out a general consensus of our beliefs on issues, and make sure people respect our neutrality. If one council ceases to be worth a bucket of warm spit, simply get another council.