The City Council is studying a staff realignment after voters in the election last Tuesday voted to remove the legislative analyst position from the city charter.
Council Chairman Moses Freeman asked Councilman Jerry Mitchell to chair a committee to look into ways to utilize the money in the budget for the post to give the council more staff help.
Councilman Mitchell said he would be in favor of "giving the money back to the city. Our budget is getting tighter and we're saying we're not going to raise taxes - unless we come up with something really super."
Chairman Freeman responded, "I don't think we ought to play politics with this. We are not going to be effective without staff."
Councilman Mitchell, who said he would be willing to head the panel, noted that the council already has a staff of three.
There was discussion about hiring a new staffer with the provision that the job could be eliminated after a year if the post does not prove satisfactory. However, members noted that may not bring many applicants.
Chairman Freeman said it was "an opportunity to come up with a vision for the office."
Councilwoman Carol Berz noted, "We are not the same as we were 20 years ago."
But she was not willing to second a motion by Chairman Freeman that the personnel committee would not have the option of returning the money in the budget for the position, which has been vacant for a number of months.