Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson defended a proposed consultant contract worth as much as $321,000 before members of the City Council's Government Performance and Finance Committee on Wednesday, saying it was part of an on-going effort to change the culture of city government.

Scaling back the contract or opening it up to bid could set back the effort, Anderson said.

"I'm very concerned we'll lose ground," he said, adding that council members hired him in 2005 to be a "change agent."

"If you don't want a change agent, you don't want me," Anderson said. "That's why I'm here."

Council members held up the proposed contract with The Orion Partnership last month, saying they weren't prepared to approve in part because of its size. If approved, the contract will raise the total amount of money Tacoma has paid to the Issaquah-based husband-and-wife consultant team to more than $600,000.

"It is a lot of money," Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg said at the Feb. 24 council meeting.

Council members said they wanted Anderson to come before the committee and provide more information.

Anderson told the committee that he expects to use the consultants for at least two more years, possibly three. After that, he hopes to no longer need their services.

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He said it's important to bring in an outside perspective, and credited the consultants with playing a large role in the implementation of the city's Safe and Clean initiative that seeks to cut crime in half and clean up the city.

After listening to Anderson, members of the committee said they were happy with the work the group has provided thus far, and they agreed with Anderson that they hired him to transform city government.

But they continued to have a problem with the size of the latest Orion contract in light of the economic turmoil. They suggested Anderson look for a way to divide the work into pieces. That way, the city can re-evaluate its financial condition in a year or so and decide then whether to pay for the remainder of the work.

"I would feel more comfortable taking a bite, with the understanding we would come back in ayear and see not only if the need is there, but are the resources there," said Councilman Mike Lonergan, chairman of the committee.