Six months of self-governance

After six months of self-governance, YCC #42 was having trouble finding its way.

In mid-April 2013, a unit owner took me around the property to show me how the board appears to be ignoring serious problems in the common elements.

To be fair, these issues have existed for years. Yet these problems were now the new board's responsibility.

Maintenance
There were serious maintenance issues that need to be addressed.

Some of these problems were not new and they should have been repaired during the years this condo was under administration, and during the years before that, but they were not done then. However, they needed to be fixed.


Badly rusted fire door and broken glass
The broken glass in the door was replaced, since I last reported it as a security issue, but the door itself needs to be replaced.


Badly rusted and damaged staircase.



Cracks along he newly repaired garage ceiling


Flooded garage exit due to blocked drain.

Leaking sprinkler head positioned over a parking spot.


A home-made channel to divert water from falling on a parked car.



Broken garage door left wide open


Open electrical panel exposing the wiring

Transparency
Late last year, an unsuccessful candidate during last fall's board elections made a written request to examine the minutes of all the board meetings held since the start of October 2012. His requests were ignored.

A few owners were concerned about the board's promises to be transparent in its management of YCC #42's affairs.

Enforcing standards
Some owners believe that the board needs to enforce the declaration, bylaws and rules so that the condo will be a more enjoyable place to live.

They want to have pride in their homes and to be able to invite their friends to come and visit without feeling embarrassed.


One unit's patio.


This is not seasonal furniture.


Window coverings

Many windows have pieces of plywood placed over air conditioning units which, along with other non-standard window covers, gives the property an unsightly look.


An abandoned car, one of many on the property.

Garbage & litter

Bags of garbage left in staircases


Piles of garbage left near the building


Plastic bags left hanging in low branches in front of 320 lobby


Garbage and last year's leaves laying around the property

Spring cleaning
On Saturday 27 April 2013, a hand full of volunteers from The Homeowners Association and the board members held a cleanup day to rid the property of the litter and garbage on the common elements.

Security
There was mounting frustration with the board for reducing the hours that security worked on the site, the lack of FOBs, lack of security cameras and one missing gate arm and the other at the gatehouse always being left wide open.

This all came to a head on Easter Sunday afternoon when a criminal raced a stolen car onto the property and went down into the underground garage with over 20 OPP and Toronto police cars hot on his trail.

The suspect escaped. It took hours before the police could view the camera tapes and what they saw was useless.

The missing gate arm was then replaced and the gatehouse is manned 24 hours a day. The owners were still waiting for a full security system to be installed.

False fire alarms
This long-term headache has returned with several false firm alarms going off on some days. The corporation gets hit with expensive fines every time the fire department responds to a false alarm.

Overcrowded units
Multiple or large extended families living in a single unit is a serious problem at YCC #42. There was no sign that the board of directors were taking any steps to eliminate this problem.

Management report
On 27 March 2013, the property management company printed a 12 page report listing all the action items that the board and management have identified as needing to be completed and the progress that has been made so far.

They announced that an Open House for the owners will be held once a month so the owners can bring their issues to the board's attention.

Special Owners Meeting—recall director
The board removed Shah Jahan Khan as president and then the owners were successful in obtaining sufficient owners to sign a requisition for an owners' meeting to remove him from the resident-owner position on the board of directors.

The meeting was be held on Saturday 04 May 2013 at the nearby Holiday Inn.

There were five announced candidates, if the requisition proved successful, but three withdrew; one because the board would not give the candidates a list of the registered owners and their addresses.

It was a nasty campaign with Khan accusing the other four directors of unethical behaviour and at least one candidate, who is hoping of replacing Khan, accusing him of numerous failings. It is hard to tell how much truth is mixed in with all the mud.

The requisition to replace Shah Jahan Khan failed due to a lack of quorum. Only 129 owners were registered either in person or by proxy.

However, Khan did not register the proxies that he collected to deny the meeting a quorum. He planned to register his votes during the meeting only if he was removed from office as he planned to run as a candidate in the election to replace himself.

Unfortunately the meeting broke out into a couple of yelling matches which were monitored by two security guards. The guards then escorted the directors and property manager out to their cars.

Owner apathy
The board sent out notices to all the registered owners asking them to attend two Special Owners Meetings; one to pass the 2013 budget and a second to recall a director. Both meetings failed due to a lack of a quorum.


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