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Gday,
Just wanting to ask a very broad question about anyone’s experience with having a Developer/Original Proprietor sitting on their Council of Owners.
Our Developer, who still owns one unit (out of 14), has it written in to the Schedule 1 by-laws that he has the right to bypass the election process providing he nominates properly for election at our AGM. He did so at last years AGM, but a few months later we needed an EGM to discuss a range of building defect issues (which he may have had some responsibility for) and we used that opportunity to pass a motion to have him removed from the Council. Our private discussions about him resulting in us thinking that if we need to take legal action, he can’t sit in on Council meetings that may discuss and decide to sue one of its own members.
In previous Council meetings, he has strongly opposed any suggestions of taking legal action against “those responsible.”
Not just that, but he is an absolute pain in the backside to deal with – abusive, dishonest, and has committed a few transgressions of our by-laws, falsified minutes while chairing meetings (and refused to change them) while making false accusations against many other Owners.
Now he is taking us to the State Administrative Tribunal, claiming that he was denied “natural justice” in that he wasn’t given a chance to state his case, or that we didn’t adequately explain why we wanted him removed. My view is he knows damn well why he was removed but is too stubborn to admit he has caused us grief.
Has anyone else had any similar experiences, at least with the Developer holding a Council position at all times, or having such a decision over-turned at the Tribunal because someone was denied natural justice? I’m hoping the Tribunal sees that the potential conflict of interest will outweigh his supposed natural justice.
Any thoughts?