Staff independent city paper (6)
I believe the answer is:
manila
'paper' is the definition.
(I know that manila is a type of paper)
'staff independent city' is the wordplay.
'staff' becomes 'man' (as in staffing or manning a particular place).
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'city' becomes 'LA' (Los Angeles).
'man'+'i'+'la'='MANILA'
(Other definitions for manila that I've seen before include "Animal or capital in the Phillipines" , "Animal found in Philippines" , "Brown paper and Philippine city" , "Strong brown paper; cigar, cheroot" , "Nail Ma up with strong paper" .)