By Malinda Osborne

The AVMA House of Delegates voted to sunset the Council on Communications at its regular annual session Friday.

The 10-member council was eliminated when a majority of house members voted in favor of the HAC-submitted amendment 8, which removes the council from the list of those authorized by the AVMA Bylaws. This is the same amendment that the HOD failed to pass at its regular winter session this past January.

The effort to sunset the council began in November, when the Governance Performance Review Committee recommended that the Executive Board initiate a bylaws amendment to that effect. It stated that the AVMA Communications Division had assumed the majority of the council's responsibilities, the council was not fulfilling its charge, the council did not perform effectively, and the council had not remained integral to the AVMA's objective.

The board submitted an amendment to the HOD to eliminate the council, with recommendations for approval from the HAC and the board.

In January, however, the HOD disapproved the amendment. Delegates who spoke against the measure said they considered the council a vital vehicle for member input on the Association's messages.

That argument was brought up again during Reference Committee 2 Thursday when the matter was discussed. Dr. James L. Bain, South Dakota alternate delegate, said "the council provides practitioners and specialists in the field who can provide feedback (to the division) on how veterinarians want to receive information in their limited free time."

Dr. Merry C. Crimi, American Animal Hospital Association delegate, cited the bylaw that says one of the council's responsibilities is to "envision and oversee internal and external communication programs that are strategic, focused, and timely."

"Having to physically come together twice a year for communications today is not nimble and functional," Dr. Crimi
said.