City Council members voted last night to create a 21-member panel that will examine city policies and seek long-term funding solutions for local arts groups that often find themselves on shaky ground. The Greater Columbus Creative Cultural Commission will be different from the 35-year-old Greater Columbus Arts Council, officials say. The arts council divvies up millions each year from city hotel-tax money that goes to arts groups, events and programs. The new commission will look at the bigger picture. “What we want to know is how we can best maximize not only our investment, but the return on our investment,” said Councilman Kevin L. Boyce, who has pushed the city to look at the arts not as an extravagance but as an economic-development tool to attract businesses and residents to the area.