PORTLAND — Mayor Michael Brennan is using his new mayoral powers to change the way the City Council does business.

The goal, Brennan says, is for the council to do a better job setting priorities, use the time of councilors and the city staff more efficiently, and make it easier for residents to get involved in city government.

Brennan, who took office last month as the city’s first popularly elected mayor since 1923, has already consolidated the system of council committees, cutting the number from nine to six.

At a workshop on Monday, councilors agreed that the committees should not function as independent “fiefdoms” but rather work on broad policy objectives set by the City Council.

Brennan said the city charter, approved in 2010, clearly authorizes the mayor to work with the council to set priorities and the committee structure. Brennan was elected in November.

The councilors on Monday approved a priority list, which the city staff plans to use to create a work plan for the six council committees.

The three-page list includes:

• Removing regulatory barriers to housing development.

• Streamlining the permitting and inspection process.

• Supporting several proposed projects, including the $100 million mixed-use project on Thompson’s Point.

• Examining the pros and cons of introducing impact fees for development.

• Moving the Department of Public Services out of Bayside.

• Developing strategies to address the growing number of homeless people in the city.

• Implementing a system that tracks the city’s response to requests by residents and businesses.

• Addressing concerns about rising sea levels and storm surges.

• Establishing a system for evaluating the work of the city manager, city attorney and city clerk.

Brennan told councilors that he would take responsibility for creating a system to evaluate the three officials appointed by the council, developing the council’s agenda for the Maine Legislature, and implementing the council’s recently adopted economic development plan.

The plan includes expanding the city’s commercial loan and business financial incentive programs to leverage and support business retention.

Brennan reduced the number of committees by combining the Housing Committee with Community Development Committee, the Transportation Committee with the Alternative Energy and Sustainability Committee, and the Public Safety Committee with the Health and Recreation Committee.

Each committee will have four councilors, instead of three. Combining the committees will help integrate city policies and reduce the amount of the time councilors and staff members spend at meetings, Brennan said.

The council agreed that the meetings should be recorded on video and streamed on the Internet if possible, and that committee action should be made public on the city’s website.

Brennan said he hopes the committee meetings will be more meaningful and draw more public input.

Because the council is making its priorities clear, the public will be able to hold the council accountable, said Councilor Ed Suslovic.

Because the mayor will serve for fours years, rather than the one-year term in place for the last eight decades, he will able to keep the council and city staff focused on its priority list during his entire term, Suslovic said.

“I know this isn’t sexy or exciting,” he said. “But because of the new charter, this is the stuff that can have the biggest impact.”

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@mainetoday.com