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At the last AGM my husband and I were overseas, so were unable to question some of the decisions minuted.
How do we lodge a complaint and have these minutes amended at the next AGM, so that our names are not besmirched for ever?
Unfortunately for us, our chairperson is a vindictive control freak that we have queried about goings-on at our property and she now has it in for us.
thanks
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So, was a resolution passed that you disagree with or was there just comment or discussion recorded that you feel is unfair to you?
If the resolution was properly passed there is little to do about it. In principle you could put another motion to the next general meeting to resolve that the OC does something different. If it was not reasonable that the motion passed (eg. based on inaccurate information) you could appeal the decision at the tribunal.
If there was discussion recorded that was unfair, you could ask someone present at the meeting whether the minutes are a fair record of what was said. If it is a fair record of what was said but what was said was an unfair thing to say about you, you could put a motion at the next AGM to insert a comment into minutes to say that you were not present at the meeting and disagree with the statement that was recorded about you.
Without further info that is about all I can suggest.
I had a similar thing happen to me a few years back.
What I did was; at the next AGM when the approval of the prior years minutes came around, I told the meeting that I wanted to put on record that the minutes were inaccurate because of ……..
Before the meeting I had spoken to a few other owners and explained why I couldn’t accept the minutes of the previous AGM and needed them to be corrected by way of a note in this year’s minutes. The owner’s I spoke to acknowledged the minutes were inaccurate and made me look bad. I told them if it could happen to me, it could happen to them.
When the chair asked for a vote as to whether my views should be included. The vote went my way. The secretary was not happy.
@Cosmo said:
I had a similar thing happen to me a few years back.What I did was; at the next AGM when the approval of the prior years minutes came around…
Yes. That is the way to do it. If you want an amendment to the minutes, it is put as a motion at the time that the acceptance of minutes motion comes up early in the next meeting. It is good practice, and avoids confusion or looking disorganised, to have the text of your proposed amendment of the minutes written out so you can give it to the chair at the appropriate moment. After you have spoken to the motion, the chair can then read out your motion again, and it helps the person taking minutes of the meeting to have it written down already – less risk of further error in transcription.
I recommend keeping your addition/amendment of the minutes brief and utterly objective. It makes you look good and maximises the chance that your amendment is passed.
I think we have to make a distinction between minutes that are inaccurate and comments in the minutes that are untrue.
For instance, if someone said at a meeting “the people in unit 12 are from Mars” and that was recorded in the minutes, the minutes would be accurate even if the statement was factually incorrect.
The issue here seems to be that Supersally feels she and her partner were maligned, misrepresented and traduced at the AGM.
Given that these minutes will be on the record for another year before they can be corrected (if then), and i thought the misrepresentation merited serious action, I would be tempted to propose a motion for the next executive committee meeting that the position of chair be declared vacant and that a new chairman or chairwoman be elected.
I would then present a correction of the offending section of the minutes in supporting material, to be placed on the record, as part of the reasoning for the removal of the chair. I would also seek permission to speak at the meeting.
If the chair refuses to allow the motion and, more significantly, to record the supporting material, you can then pursue the EC through Fair Trading and NCAT for a failure to perform their statutory duties. They don’t have to remove her from office but they do have to at least put it to a vote.
Of course, the Chair could put the motion to the meeting and make sure it is knocked over (another loss for Supersally). However, not properly recording the details of the motion puts the EC on very shaky ground.
One final thought: This is not going to make life in your community any easier. I would only do this if I felt there was no other way to correct the impression given of me given in the records. Talk this through with a member of the committee who is more sympathetic and see if there is a compromise that won’t lead to World War III.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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