Streamline APA!

That was the battle cry of a host of Assembly members at last month's meeting in Washington, D.C., who want a more efficient governance structure that is more responsive to members' needs and spends less money.

Following vigorous debate that consumed the better part of an hour, the Assembly approved a motion to eliminate--on a trial basis--independent meetings of the 23-member Joint Reference Committee, and instead have that body meet only concurrently with the Assembly.

The debate was the highlight of a meeting that focused on issues related to the Association's ability to respond to member concerns in a timely and efficient manner.

The action paper, brought to the Assembly floor by Roger Peele, M.D., of the Washington Psychiatric Society, must still be acted on by the Board of Trustees before it can take effect.

In an interview with Psychiatric News, Peele explained that he believes the motion will potentially produce savings of $80,000. He also believes that it will make it easier for members of the Association to bring concerns to the Assembly and have them acted on more efficiently.

The Joint Reference Committee, composed of two members of the Assembly, two of the Board of Trustees, and the medical director, along with all council chairs as nonvoting members, acts as a "clearinghouse" between the Assembly and Board and councils. Peele said that currently many action papers brought by Assembly representatives and other members of the Association must travel a tortuous bureacratic route before being looked at by the Board of Trustees: typically, from the Assembly to the Joint Reference Committee, then to a relevant council or component, then back to the Assembly again before being forwarded to the Board of Trustees.

Eliminating the Joint Reference Committee, Peele said, "increases the authority of the Assembly, enabling proposals to go straight from the Assembly to the Board."

Peele told Psychiatric News that he believes the motion is a first step toward eventually abolishing the Joint Reference Committee "probably by 1998."

The action paper was opposed by a number of representatives who said that radical changes in the way APA is organized ought not to be decided on the floor of the Assembly.

In addition, representatives said that APA is already in transition with the departure of Medical Director Melvin Sabshin, M.D., next year, and the arrival of Medical Director-designate Steven Mirin, M.D.

"We think this is not the right time," said Area 1 representative Suzane Renaud, M.D., of the Quebec and Eastern Canada District Branch, in opposition to the action. "We think we should respect the incoming new medical director [and let him] have his word and make some decisions about reorganizing APA. . . ."

Renaud concluded that Peele's action paper "is the right idea at the wrong time."

Former Assembly Speaker Richard Harding, M.D., supported the principle of streamlining the governance structure, but told the Assembly that elimination of the Joint Reference Committee would have far-reaching implications not considered by the Assembly.

Among those implications are the fact that chairs of councils and components who presently attend the JRC meeting would have to be present at the Assembly meetings instead, Harding told Psychiatric News. That fact alone will mean that the savings Peele envisions will not be so easy to come by, Harding said.

During the Assembly debate, Harding urged that the Assembly's Committee on Planning review the motion.

That view was backed by James Krajeski, M.D., representative for minority and underrepresented groups, who said that reorganization of the Association requires "a thoughtful strategic planning."

Commenting on Peele's proposal, Krajeski said, "This is not the right way to go about it."

Nevertheless, last month's meeting revealed very strong feelings on the part of many Assembly members--including those who spoke against the motion--that the Association governance structure is unweildy, unresponsive to members' needs, and wasteful.

It was during debate on the action paper that Richard Bridburg, M.D., was called upon to comment on the fate of a special task force report on reorganization that would call for sweeping constitutional changes in the way the Association operates.

Bridburg, a cochair of the panel that produced the report, told the Assembly that he believes the report is being ignored by the Board of Trustees That view was echoed by Peele, who noted that his action paper to eliminate the Joint Reference Committee is only a small part of what was proposed in Bridburg's report.

Remarking that the cancellation of a Joint Reference Committee meeting last year due to snow did not disrupt the Association's functioning, Peele told Assembly members: "There are members out there who would like us to spend less money. This proposal does that. There are members who would like to reduce the bureaucratic levels of decision making of this organization. This proposal achieves that also."

Peele concluded, "Let's pass this proposal rather than have those members pray for snow."

(Psychiatric News, December 6, 1996)