‘Bullying’ is becoming overused as a word and it has lost a lot of its potency as a result. It’s getting up there alongside ‘political correctness’ in terms of concepts that have their roots in good intentions but are too easy to be dismissed by the very people they are directed at.
If I were in your shoes, I would put a motion to the meeting that the Strata Committee investigate allegations of vandalism and intimidation of owners with dissenting views to establishing a protocol of acceptable behaviour by strata committee members.
I would put a second motion to the committee that the building invest in security cameras to monitor common property areas to protect owners from vandalism and intimidation.
Strictly speaking, the secretary should not interfere with these motions being presented but the chairman could rule them out of order at the meeting (if they are prepared to deal with the backlash). Even so, it would have served its purpose o0f getting these issues aired, especially if you were to add background information that should also go out with the agenda.
The background would itemise incidents in as unemotive a form as possible such as:
Jan 1, lot owner objects to plan proposed by SC. Jan 2, dissenting lot owner’s car vandalised.
Feb 1, lot owner asks for information re (whatever). SC member becomes threatening and abusive
Mar 1, poster appears on noticeboard saying (whatever) …
So what I am saying is that you don’t directly accuse the strata committee or its members of anything but you make them responsible for dealing with it.
Two things you need to bear in mind here are that you have a lot of leeway to point the finger without any comeback in terms of defamation, provided it is part of the discussions around the running of your building, it is kept within the confines of the building and there is no evidence that your comments were maliciously motivated.
Secondly, the new rules on proxy voting and nominations for the committee mean you could create havoc at the AGM just by turning up and demanding that they follow the rules. For instance, joint owners can’t nominate themselves and people who are not financial can’t nominate anyone. Also, nominations have to be in writing and signed by the proposer.
So you check every nomination in detail – a few will pop out, for sure.
Also, in your building each owner will be limited to two proxy votes so it would be very easy for a group of five people to take over the strata committee (unless the committee is very well organised).
As an alternative to the provocative motions, if I were you, I would quietly get your power block and its proxies sorted out, then just blitz the meeting, take over, deal with the inevitable backlash and move on.
So do your homework and be prepared to stand up and quote chapter and verse of the strata Act and Regulations. If you are ignored or silenced, at the very least you will have grounds for having the strata committee and strata manager sacked some time in the future.