Some are born to greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them … and some become chairman of their Owner’s Corporation.
QUESTION: Can you direct me to a source of accessible information about the role of secretary, chairman and treasurer on an owners corporation executive committee? I was elected secretary at the last AGM but have only a hazy idea of my brief.
This is a problem because our chairman, an investor owner, has been on our executive for many years and has told the strata manager that everything must be referred back to him.
The strata manager seem to accept this directive. If the chairman wants a matter pursued, he does it well, but if a maintenance matter is raised which the chairman deems unimportant or undesirable, it is left unattended, often permanently. Does he have this power and if not how do you deal with the issue?
The block has only 12 units and there are now seven of us who are owner-occupiers. In the past, investor owners were happy to let this person make all the decisions. That balance has now changed, but his grasp on the whole show has not. Is there anything we can do? – Jeff, Randwick
ANSWER: The roles of Chair, secretary and treasurer are referred to in the Act. But the few references to the chairman states that he or she doesn’t have a casting vote and must chair any meetings (unless the meeting delegates that to someone else).
The secretary’s role is much more clearly defined; it’s the secretary who calls meetings, issues agendas and provides minutes. The same applies to the treasuer – that role is defined and included the preparation of accounts and Budgets (more usually, it’s overseeing the strata manager’s paperwork). After that, it’s up to you how active you want to be in running things.
But it sounds like you need a change and this can be done at any time by a simple majority vote at any Executive Committee meeting, any time.
Remember, it’s only the votes of executive committee members that count in the election of office bearers, so it doesn’t matter how many votes the chairman got at the AGM.
A change at the top should solve all your problems with your strata manager too. And if you are looking for more information about your role and responsibilities, contact the Owners corporation Network on www.ocn.org.au for help.