getting things done and passing motions, voting from new carpet

HI,

I am an owner in 8 unit block in QLD – standard module

I am an ordinary committee member

we are a self-managed body corporate – the chairman does a a lot of the work

whilst the building is in good condition things are looking tired and things need replacing

the first issue I am wanting to address is to replace the worn and dirty carpet – (just shy 10 years old )

it has been bought up at our once only yearly meeting – 2 out of five committee members want it done, 2 don’t, 1 might be on the fence, each year the chairman (who thinks he has more power and control as he has been their since the start) keeps saying that we will address it next year – hence stalling and nothing gets done

I want to push the issue beyond the committee so that every owner can vote

first step –  I am in the process of getting quotes – as that will decide whether the decision can be made by the committee or needs to go to an all unit vote

I’m pretty sure it will be beyond the committee level to vote

which takes me to the next step – should I call a meeting to discuss the issue?

first issue – the secretary has to call a meeting – the secretary may be influenced by the chairman and can stall and just refused to call a meeting – what do I do?

OR

do I skip the meeting and just put a motion forward so that everyone can vote ? I am aware that I can call an extraordinary G M, but would cost money because the body corp service would charge us ? am I correct ? so I would like it to just go to a postal vote – I believe this is possible ? we have done this before

side issue and relevant back story – recently we had some conflict where I wanted to install a security cage in the back of my garage – we sent a letter to the chairman outling our plan – he was obstructive and started stalling and did not want us to do it, making up excuses like we couldn’t block access to stormwater drains ect – (he has a completely enclosed garage with a locked door for his own unit)  – come up with excuses as to why he was allowed to do this ect – anyway we just went ahead a got the cage after obtaining information that the garage was on title and did our own reseach on the legal implications – it caused some discontent amongst owners but has since settled, but has lessened my popularity !

after the installation of the cage we all received voting paters outlining conditions that,  should owners want to install a cage it needs to be under the outlined conditions – after getting legal advice it appears that this vote was nothing more than a “popularity vote” as all the conditions already outlined in the QLD strata laws – so the whole thing was a waste of time – I am pretty sure the chairman had this vote done at the request of our body corporate service – the problem is I have no contact with them – they state that ONLY  the secretary can make contact and that supposedly needs to be done in writing – I know that the chairman is getting advise and gets to talk to them as he has an established relationship

I feel that there is a closed loop of communication as when I need something changed I need to research everything myself and get advice from the qld body corp government service (they are very helpful) and dont get any help from the body corporate management

how do I get anything done?

what if I send my motion to secretary and they don’t pass it on ? and don’t act on my request ?

if the chairman and secretaries have no more power then other members than why is it that only the secretary can call a meeting?

why am I disadvantaged in not being able to directly communicate with the body corp manager – I am a owner and committee member – this restricted access is allowing disproportionate power to the chairman – who wants everything done his way ? how do I address this ?

what is the best way to proceed and get new carpets ?

thanks