I got an email the other week from a reader whose building has been effectively taken over by a nuisance couple who are abrasive and abusive.
Things have got so bad that no one else wants to attend meetings let alone be on the executive committee, leaving Mr Angry as the only office-bearer. Now the strata manager says the “vitriolic emails and phone calls” are too much and plans to not renew his contract.
Most of the people in this small block just want a quiet life but few (if any) want the couple concerned to run the building. What do they do?
My advice was to delegate all the office-bearer’s powers to the Strata Manager at the next General Meeting (if he can be persuaded to stay on).
They could also get a 75 percent vote needed to remove the offending neighbour from the EC then restrict the female of the species – who does most of the table-thumping and ear-bashing – from speaking at meetings as her name doesn’t appear on the strata roll.
Easier said than done, you’d imagine. But it got me thinking about the whole question of choice.
The maximum number of seats on an Executive Committee is nine and in a large building you can usually find at least that many prepared to pitch in … to begin with.
However, people get busy, tired or move away and the remaining members are obliged by law to fill the vacant seat. That can mean the saddies, maddies and baddies who didn’t get elected at the AGM (often for good reason) eventually have to be taken on.
And that’s when the fun really starts. One determined space cadet can destroy a functioning EC just by being the obnoxious, obsessive and obstructive plonker who was rejected at the election.
So I reckon ECs should be reduced to a more manageable size but form a couple of non-voting sub-committees so that newcomers can pitch in and help, get to know how things work and show what they have to offer.
Then when vacancies arise, an experienced, committed team player can be drafted in off the bench. That has to be better than choosing the least worst option who’s been hanging around like a bad smell.