PORTSMOUTH — To change the City Charter or to not the change the City Charter?

That is the question the City Council is expected to tackle in the coming months.

Having already had brief discussion in January on making changes to the City Charter, the council once again met on Monday night for a work session dedicated to the issue.

Upon hearing from City Attorney Bob Sullivan about the many avenues they could take, the council ultimately chose to move forward with creating a study committee tasked with determining if the charter needs any changes — big, small or any at all.

At the beginning of every decade, the City Charter requires the council consider creating a Charter Commission to review and make recommendations concerning the provisions of the nearly 23-year-old document.

Sullivan briefed the council on its options for moving forward with possible charter revisions Monday night

The charter — much like a constitution — outlines the form of government employed by the city, said Sullivan. Up until 1987, the city was without a charter. Before that, Sullivan said councilors and the legal department were forced to sift through nearly 200 years of laws and ordinances passed by the city.

Sullivan said he essentially wrote the city's current charter.

Eventually a Charter Commission was created, which Sullivan called a "unbelievably exhausted analysis" that required much time and effort for him and city staff.

Having gone over the specifics during discussion at an all day retreat in January, Sullivan re-emphasized Monday night that the only way the council can make changes to the charter is by either revising it or amending it.

Revising the charter requires various citywide votes and is a "tedious process", said Sullivan. The reason for such a lengthy process is because revisions are meant for significant changes to the way the city governs itself. For example, Sulivan said if the council wanted to change the council/city manager format, they would do so through revision of the charter.

"This is not something I'd hope the City Council need go to lightly," he said.

Should the city decide it wanted to revise the charter, the process could take multiple years, he added.

Amendments on the other hand are considered to be the simplest way to make a change in the charter, said Sullivan.

The council can adopt the specific amendments on its own and by one referendum vote, while revisions require a citywide vote on the creation of a Charter Commission, a vote on its commissioners and a vote on the final product.

The process could be done swiftly and be ready for referendum in the fall and implementation in the coming year.

A third option is also on the table for councilors and appears to be the avenue in which they want to proceed.

Sullivan said in 2000 when Evelyn Sirrell was acting mayor, the council decided to forego doing either of the two options and instead chose to create a similar study committee to consider the issues surrounding possible charter revisions and amendments. Later that year Sullivan said the committee was created and included three city councilors and six city residents.

Mayor Tom Ferrini questioned "if" the city were to look at abolishing the police and fire commissions, would the move fall under a revision or an ordinance.

Sullivan said since the commissions were created by amendments to the charter, they could in fact be abolished using an amendment.

Other topics discussed as possibly ways of changing the charter included discussion in January about staggering councilors terms.

Councilor Esther Kennedy questioned if the city could hold off on considering changes due to the council already having too much on their plate.

Sullivan said the council could choose to take up the matter at any point.

Kennedy said she would prefer holding off and giving the issue due diligence when time allows. Councilor Ken Smith agreed with Kennedy and questioned if a study committee was created, wold the council be obligated to act on its recommendations. Smith said he would rather see a referendum on charter changes occur during a municipal election, which would be November, 2011.

Sullivan said the council could take any sort of action it wanted in response to the study and would not have to act right away or at all.

Councilors Jerry Hejtmanek and Tony Coviello and Asst. Mayor Nancy Novelline Clayburgh advocated for the creation of the study committee.

Ferrini said since it appeared most councilors wanted to move forward with a committee, he would bring by a committee charge at the March 15 meeting in hopes of steering things in the right direction.

"Committees go in the wrong direction when they don't have a road map," Ferrini said.