Elections grant legitimacy

An elected board of directors has a mantle of legitimacy that they need to comfortably sit at the board table and make unpopular decisions.

However, a board that calls AGMs every two or three years, refuses to allow the owners to examine the corporation's records, neglects basic maintenance and carries out the corporation's business in secrecy, lives with the constant threat of a requisition meeting or an application for a court-appointed administrator constantly hanging over their heads.

Holding annual AGMs, even if they are badly marred by fraud, gives the board legitimacy. Unless the election is overturned by the courts, it is recognized as the legal board.

Oh the hypocrisy of it all

I attended an AGM where the district manager hammed it up with a big show of faked enthusiasm because a candidate decided to challenge an incumbent for a position on the board. "It is so exciting to have an election." he exclaimed.

Oh sure it was. That is why he had quietly collected a dozen proxies from the commercial units and had the superintendent go door-to-door collected proxies from all the seniors to make insure that the incumbent couldn't lose.

However, he got want he wanted. A good show of democracy without the worry of an outsider having a hope in hell of winning a position on the board.

The stink gets worse.

Whenever his company has successfully fended off a legitimate challenge to a condo board, by improperly denying owners their rights to vote, the owner of a small property management company sends the owners a letter thanking them for their continued support.

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