Our Managing Agent tells me that she is not allowed to chair our AGM. Our Chairperson will not be able to attend and none of the Trustees are willing to chair the meeting – what do we do now?
Lets see what the STSM Act states about this:
PMR 18(1) The chairperson of the trustees must preside as chairperson at every general meeting of the body corporate, unless otherwise resolved by members at the meeting.
(2) If there is no chairperson or the chairperson of the trustees is not present within 15 minutes after the time appointed for the meeting, or is unwilling or unable to act as chairperson, the members present must elect a chairperson for such meeting.
It is therefore possible for the Managing Agent to be requested to chair the meeting. In practice this could be a bit difficult though seeing that the Managing Agent is also normally required to take the minutes of the meeting.
History:
Before the Act amendment in 2005 the PMR stated that the members shall elect one of their number to be chairman. In 2005 it was changed to “the members shall elect a chairman for such meeting”. This allowed – since 2005 – for the Managing Agent or anyone who is not a member of the BC to chair the meeting.
So maybe your Managing Agent should just ensure that she has the latest version of the STSM Act at hand 😊