One of the good things about serving on the executive committee of a strata building – apart from the tea and Tim Tams (or Pinot and Brie) – is the chance to get to know some of your neighbours a little better.
The downside is that it can bring you too close for comfort to nutters, bullies and sociopathic know-alls whose idea of a good committee meeting is one where everybody agrees with them without debate, discussion or the slightest signs of dissent.
We know of one building where an executive committee member is on such a violently emotional hair trigger that the other members asked a tenant who just happened to be a former SAS officer, to attend all their meetings because he is the only person who can get this guy, a personal trainer, to calm down.
But, in the absence of retired killing machines, how do you get rid of an psychological, emotional or even physical bully from your committee?
For a start, they might not even have been elected; there may simply be fewer nominations than there were vacancies. So a simple tactic might be to reduce the size of the committee at your next AGM then make sure you’ve got the numbers so that he or she doesn’t get voted back on.
If the next AGM is too far away, you could ask your Strata Manager to play the tough guy (or girl) and tell them to pull their head in, but they may be no braver than you are.
Or you could bring in someone with some credibility – like a strata lawyer – to observe and then tell them where they are crossing the line. But that’s expensive if you have meetings every month.
As a last resort, you could hold an extraordinary general meeting with a motion on the agenda to remove of this person from the committee. The strata Act allows you to do that by a special resolution.
However, a tap on the shoulder suggesting they resign rather than face the public humiliation should be enough.
But then, who’s going to do the tapping? I can see a whole new career opportunity for former soldiers as the Guardian Angels of the strata world. .