LARGO, FL – After months of discussion, Largo city leaders say they want to hire a consultant to study the efficiency of certain city programs. But they still don’t know where they want to focus. Commissioner Gay Gentry said it would be wise for the city to set aside money each year to study the efficiency and effectiveness of some element of government.

The topic arose last summer, when resident Curtis Holmes, a fixture at city meetings, urged the commission to hire an auditor. He questioned the city’s legal bills and said commissioners were “force-fed” information by city staff members.

Commissioners said they weren’t ready to hire an independent auditor, but they were open to giving specific city programs more scrutiny. Last week, commissioners were supplied with a staff memo that outlined ways to hire and direct a consultant. Some commissioners complained that the discussion had somehow gotten off topic. A few said they wanted to talk about what to review, rather than how.

In November, commissioners suggested a future work session to discuss hiring a consultant to look at whether the city’s fleet management could be improved. But this month, City Manager Steve Stanton suggested hiring a consultant to look at the city’s risk management program instead.

Most city commissioners agreed that fleet management didn’t need to be analyzed now since Largo recently hired a new public works director and a new fleet manager.