Question: Faced with a consistently angry, verbally abusive, and disruptive committee member who distorts facts and disregards meeting materials, what steps can the body corporate take, including a potential ‘vote of no confidence’ for removal?
What steps can our body corporate take when a committee member is angry, confrontational or verbally abusive to our chairperson in particular but also to other members, including our offsite caretaker (who is onsite every day) at every meeting? They distort facts to suit themself and do not read minutes or reports.
Our chairperson is skilled in meeting procedures and does their best to keep the meeting flowing calmly. Negotiation, common sense and conversations do not help. Can the committee have a ‘vote of no confidence’ in this person and remove them from the committee? Are other avenues available?
Answer: There are two possibilities for removing a committee member, but is that the best option?
While a ‘vote of no confidence’ is a very real thing in politics and other contexts, and we do hear it referred to quite a bit from clients we speak to, it doesn’t exist in strata legislation and ultimately would mean nothing, even if passed.
Instead, there are two possibilities for removing a committee member: (1) via a Code of Conduct contravention process or (2) an ordinary resolution at a general meeting. On (1), that process is prescriptive and involves considerable effort. If you don’t follow all steps precisely, there is a good chance it will not be valid. Whereas on (2), it’s simply a motion, requiring no reasons for seeking the removal. In other words, (2) is always going to be your simplest option.
That said, there are a few qualifiers. Firstly, if the committee member has their fans or can rustle up enough support, perhaps (2) might not be so straightforward. You’d need to be clear on the numbers. Secondly, we’re curious as to why this member acts this way. Is that a question you have asked yourself or anyone else? Could something be driving their behaviour, and can that be addressed? We think the most important question in strata is always ‘why?’ and if you haven’t asked it here, we’d suggest doing so before you take the next step.
After asking ‘why’, you may find yourself in a position where you can consider other options, such as having a conversation with the committee member in question or having someone else who has a decent relationship with them having the conversation. These may be better and less stressful options to try first before proceeding to removal. Not forgetting that you’ll need someone to replace them and that the grass is not always greener, so to speak.
We’ll add, as a final thought, that we’ve seen plenty – and we mean plenty – of instances where a former committee member, who after being removed from their position, seethes, stews, and works vigorously to oppose and encourage others to oppose as well. Some might refer to that as white anting, and you’d want to avoid it if possible.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #746.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898