14 Sep 2015 5:10 PM:

On the nail again Dai.

However I was under the impression that if an item was not on the agenda, then it could not be voted on. It belongs under any other business, if a decision is required it must await the next AGM or EGM for approval or confirmation. The president of course does have a limited right to make decisions on many issues, providing it does not exceed a certain proportional percentage of the community fees.

Most certainly openness exposes any dubious practices. Your community must get itself organised. Begin by collecting contact information of all owners. Alas in a democracy you may discover that the majority are in favour of how the community is presently run. At best, perhaps they just don't care. Then you are banging your head against the wall.

I wish you success in your endeavour. Nothing worthwhile is easy to achieve.

Cheers

Leo

Thread: Presidency or Dictatorship!

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14 Sep 2015 1:34 PM:

This has been a very interting thread. Very impressed with Diaoackly and Roberto's posts

It does seem that there is a lack of organisation by the troops. That lets the officers have it all their own way. Not always to the advangage of the community.

It is not easy but essential that owners have each others contact details. After all they are all neighbours. That way those who pay little attention to the shenanigans, may be surprised to hear what goes on in their name.

As for the proxy vote saga, our community has been down this route and consulted the law. There was an attempt to restrict the proxy holder to holding 3 proxies. This is against the law ! No one can disenfranchise an owner for selecting an unpopular proxy holder. Nor is there any limit to the number of proxies held by one person. A paid up owner can chose their own proxy holder and they need not be members of the community. A total outsider, if trusted is just a legal. The difficulty for owners not attending an AGM, is to know WHO exactly will attend. It is inevitable that the president will be there and if he is trusted, then it is logical that he will be the right proxy holder.

Another way of owners communicating without disclosing their e-mail address is via Face Book or if there is a member interested in making a Forum, it can be set up for people to chat amongst fellow neighbours at any time. Not always popular, as it is a bit of work for the moderator and some owners may not be PC competant, others totally disinterested. Such are the many problems of living in a community. Some work needs to be done to get your community into a solid democratic group, all with an opportunity to speak other than once a year at an AGM.

No one says democracy is perfect but it's a helluva lot better than anarchy.

Cheers

Leo

Thread: Presidency or Dictatorship!

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16 Aug 2014 3:48 PM:

Thanx Baz,

Clearly we did not threaten them enough with the big stick.

A cautionary tale for all. Beware of unscupulous tactics.

My apologies Andrew for usurping your post. Alas it happens all too often in all categories.

I fully appreciate that there are many more serious breaches of moral codes.Yours being just one of them.

Cheers

Leo

Thread: Have you been "ripped off"? ... read the attached article

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16 Aug 2014 12:33 PM:

I can't really use the words Ripped Off, as I have never had an horrendous experience.

However I would like to issue a note of CAUTION.

When booking via a well known price trawler, Do You Spain, we were recommended to use the hire company Gold Car. We were further advised to use the cheaper insurance offered by Do You Spain. This we did.

We assumed that our hire package was complete. However when we arrived at Málaga, we discovered that this was not the case. The Gold Car Hire Desk, at the Airport did not recognise the insurance that we carried and had paid for. Therefore we were obliged to deposit €600 with them, against accident or Scratch. We were advised that in that event, we had to claim from the Insurance company sold by Do You Spain. Which coincidently was called 'GOLD Insurance' 

Now wasn't that a deliberate misnomer.? We are resident in Holland and driving a Spanish car, insured in U.K. We imagined that any insurance claim would take forever and a day. Luckily nothing untoward happened and when we arrived back in Holland, we wrote to Do You Spain and explained the apparent deception. Naturally they said that it was perfectly normal and legal, which we don't doubt but they refused to comment on the €600 deposit necessary at the hire desk. 

We have hired again in October, via Gold Car, via Do You Spain, as it appears to be the best value. We will pay Gold Car at the desk for Insurance, which is a few Euros more expensive than that offered by the Duplicate Insurance Company called Gold Insurance operating out of U.K. upon recommendation of Do You Spain.

As I said..... It is just a note of CAUTION - " CAVEAT EMPTOR "

Cheers Leo

 

 

Thread: Have you been "ripped off"? ... read the attached article

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13 Apr 2013 7:51 PM:

I was a Tory councillor at the time of her coming and I was immensly proud to belong to her party.

I seem to recall that we used to have a ship building industry then. They were riveted ships. I think there were 5 men in each team. Then along came welded ships and the riveting team of 5 was replaced by a single welder. Luckily for the riveting teams the Unions insisted that welders must also be in a team of 5. Unluckily for the industry, the cost of the welded ships was unsustainable because of the unused and extra manpower, thus the industry died. Ship building moved overseas. The unions blamed anyone and everyone but themselves. I seem to remember something similar happening on the railways too, when an unused fireman and a rear coach brakeman had to be employed on new diesel trains, as well as the driver. Another disaster in the making.

I am definitely not anti Union. I honestly believe that they are a vital ingredient for a stable society. I also believe that there are some employers that are just as narrow minded, short sighted, beligerent, uncompromising and financially incompetant as some of the old Unions. 

Neither did I support everything Maggie stood for, especially in later years. Nevertheless I still admired her and wish to hell we had some politicians with her guts and determination today.

Was I adversly affected by her reign, actually yes. I was heavily involved in the local tourist industry, which collapsed because she put more money into the pockets of most and they elected to holiday abroad in guaranteed sunshine, because they could now afford it. Our industry and my business was in tatters and I sought work in Europe, where I have been ever since.

I didn't blame Maggie for my demise, change and progress was inevitable and still is. Alas not always for the best for everyone.

If those misguided, selfish, ill educated trouble makers stayed in the comfortable homes provided by the state and seethed in silence we would not have to spend 10 million pounds on security for the funeral of Britain's first female Prime Minister.

Leo Leon (Holland)

Thread: The Iron Lady - Did you love her or hate her?

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