Tracer – We have one E/C Member who’s in the building trade and always provides a first class service to our Plan, but in addition to him providing quotes and abstaining from votes on the proposal concerned, I’ve had to ensure that all quotes, including his, come directly to me as Secretary.
Why? Well, when he was privy to the amount of the competing quotes as they came in, he would always quote lower and, prior to my arrival, would always win the work, and in the end we had difficulties getting other tradespeople to quote – because the E/C Member either got the job or the job didn’t proceed.
No problems now though, because I receive the quotes, our E/C Member abstains from voting, he still wins around 60% of the work, still does a good job, and as I e-mail those tradespeople who miss out to briefly thank them for quoting and to tell them who won the job, and always pay before the due date, we never have problems getting quotes.