Millie – in response to your questions:
Provided the appointment of a proxy is on the Prescribed Form, indicates how the appointee is instructed to vote (e.g. on all matters), is dated, and is given to the Secretary at or before the General Meeting to which it applies (or at least 24 hours before for Schemes of >100 Lots) then an appointment of a recognised office holder such as the Executive Committee “Chairman” as proxy would be valid.
However (there’s always at least one of these in matters Strata) votes by Owners at a General Meeting that resolved to do or not do something that’s prohibited or prescribed under the Law, such as to comply with the conditions of a Development Consent for the Scheme issued under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, or with an Owners Corporation’s duty of disclosure under the Federal Insurance Contracts Act, or not to enforce compliance with a By-Law in accordance with the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (SCMA) IF a majority were of the reasonable opinion that a Breach had in fact occurred, would all be invalid.
That raises the matter of Executive Committee Meetings (ECM) where such “reasonable opinions” regarding Breaches are usually formed, and where the entirety of Sch.3 of the SCMA sets-out the “Constitution” of how such Meetings are to take place, including Notice of Meetings, Agendas, and Minutes, and again if as your post indicates these procedures weren’t followed, then the entirety of the meeting that your Strata Manager arranged with himself would be invalid; as clearly it’s not an ECM.
There should have been an ECM immediately after your recent AGM where, among other things the newly elected Committee Members would vote on the appointment of Office Holders for the coming 12 months.
I’m guessing that despite their past shenanigans the proxy-farming Owner was re-elected as a Executive Committee Member and then re-elected Chairman at the following ECM, but while you get what the majority votes for, there is another light at the end of the tunnel.
In addition to the invalidity of some AGM resolutions, despite the fact that your Strata Manager may be delegated the role of Secretary (e.g. to convene all meetings) that other “light” is that the elected Secretary can by written advice to the Strata Manager assume that role themselves for a particular meeting or more generally.
So as I recently advised another Flatchatter, don’t allow the tail to wag the dog to a greater extent than what’s acceptable to the majority.