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Our committee recently sent out a ‘Survey Monkey’ survey with no cover note asking for our opinions on a matter which had previously been thrown out at an AGM. We were given no background or information just a question. They sent the survey to every resident, renters and home owners and if I look over the list of email address in the email we received some homes with two resident emails listed received two surveys. Apparently the ‘yes’ vote won and the committee is moving forward to pursue quotes and telling us all we need to know about installing security cameras (with the location now expanding according to the most recent committee minutes!).
When two residents pointed out that renters are not a part of the voting mechanism and therefore the survey was not acceptable, they were shut down by the President as being the ‘voice of the minority’. One of the most vocal voices around this issue was a renter, who had a vote .. and whose lease ended two weeks ago – they’ve moved out!!
Can I have some feedback re the use of Survey Monkey as a voting mechanism – I can’t believe that out of 50 households, only 6 people said no to the survey, and the committee are moving ahead! I can’t believe that our Strata managers, if they know, would allow this to happen.
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A survey like this has no standing in law and it sounds as if it was just used to either gauge the opinions of residents or get the conversation going or both.
Tenants may not have a vote but their opinions are important – or they should be. For most schemes, a survey like this would be the only time ALL residents’ views were heard.
Your only problem is if someone on the committee says the majority of people are in favour and therefore the proposal had been accepted (which could be very easily knocked over at the tribunal).
The proposals still have to go to a proper vote at a properly constituted meeting at which tenants will not even be able to speak, let alone vote.
Surely it’s better to have a straw poll to get a sense of the residents’ feeling than it is to just present them with a proposal conjured out of thin air. I would applaud the committee for making the effort to find out what people think.
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