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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