Do you ever get the urge to stand for election to your strata committee?  Are you convinced you could do a better job than the existing members? Do you want to join but keep being frozen out at the AGM?Our colleague Sue Williams has written a piece for The Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section on whether or not you should join your strata committee.The answer to that question, by the way, is yes … and no.You can read Sue’s piece HERE.Meanwhile, here are our five reasons you should join your committee … and five reasons you really shouldn’t.FIVE GOOD REASONS TO JOIN YOUR STRATA COMMITTEE You want to do your bit for the community.Yes, we live in an age when being called a “good citizen” is almost an insult, but if strata living is going to work, it has to be more “one for all and all for one”, than every man or woman for themselves. You have valuable skills to offerAre you an accountant, interior designer, trained mediator, lawyer, architect, builder, tradie or possess any of the other many skill sets that might be useful in a strata scheme?Yes, the owners corp could contract any of these jobs out to paid professionals, but even if they do, isn’t it great to have someone on the inside looking out. If you have knowledge, skills and experience, why not share them with your neighbours? You see problems (and know how to fix them)The second part of that headline is probably the most important. It’s all very well to be able to spot issues that need fixing, but it’s a whole other thing to know what the fix is.Although there’s a lot to be said for getting people to agree that there is a problem – a major hurdle in many strata schemes – but if you have a solution, that’s gold! You have the time and energyIt’s one of the truisms of strata that the very people you want on your committee are often too busy earning the money to pay their mortgages to come home and dive into an avalanche of emails and meetings.But if you have the time and energy as well as the inclination, go for it. If you don’t, someone who has neither will. You want to learnMaybe you are new to strata and, far from thinking you have all the answers, you don’t even know half of the questions.  That’s OK.  Strata is full of know-alls who haven’t even read their own by-laws, let alone looked at the strata Act or Regulations.So join in with an open mind, listen more than you speak and read everything there is to read so that you can contribute effectively now and into the future. AND FIVE BAD REASONS FOR GETTING ELECTED … Pursuing your own agendaIt could be as simple as wanting to make sure your planned renovations go through or a desire to make sure levies are kept to an absolute minimum, regardless of the long-term needs of the building.In the first instance, at the very least while you are making sure you get approval for the spa bath on your balcony (but doing nothing else) you could be keeping someone who has a genuine contribution to make from sitting on the committee.At worst, your own financial concerns could be eroding the value of everyone else’s unit.  OK, you’re on a fixed income; OK, you’re not intending to sell any time soon so property values are of no interest to you.But blocking sensible and ess

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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.