It remains to be seen whether the power to amend bylaws of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau will ever be turned over to the bureau's 11-member executive board from the general membership. An attempt to do that failed at a meeting last week.

But what is just as pressing as the bylaws question is finding a way to achieve better attendance at the bureau's quarterly membership sessions. Less than 25 percent of the organization's general membership showed up for the latest meeting, and poor attendance by that membership isn't a new concern.

In fact, the proposal to turn bylaws changes over to the executive board was born amid the concern about the lackluster general-membership attendance.

At the latest meeting, attendees were split about evenly over whether the executive board should wield the additional power. While some said the proposal didn't represent an attempted power grab by the executive board, there was concern that the proposal, if approved, would give the 11 people serving on the board more power than they should have.

That feeling was not directed pointedly at the current board; confidence was expressed in the way the 11 members were handling bureau business.

However, board members said they weren't convinced that they would be fairly represented by future boards.

Meanwhile, a companion provision to the proposed bylaws change would have allowed the general membership to vote on business by mail-in ballot. But allowing that probably would defeat attempts at bolstering meeting attendance.

There can be little argument that the proposal dealing with who would be in charge of bylaws changes would, if approved, streamline the process. But efficiency must be weighed against tinkering with something that really isn't broken.

The problem is general-membership attendance.

Maybe the bureau needs to schedule speakers or other attractions or displays as part of the membership sessions as a means for encouraging more people to show up.

"This is a membership organization and the members should rule," said John Ruch, president of Historic Harmony.

Bureau members — many more, not just a few — should become more-active bureau members, not only for their own benefit but also for the organization's benefit.

Tourism is an important element in Butler County's economy, and the county's tourism promotion agency should project something other than the current lackluster membership involvement.