Condo Crowned

The advent of growing numbers of condo dwellers calls for closer amateur management skills training of elected council members for these developments. Council members are well-meaning but often unqualified folk who take on the role. It is a big responsibility to manage the investment property of so many other people without specific training in condominium knowledge. Most of the council members doing their job, deem to have been an executive of sorts in business etc and therefore are considered to be "qualified". It's not the same thing. To be sure, there is the Strata Act in place and the Condo Bylaws and Rules. It doesn't seem a complicated domain. One assumes that with the laws in place, everything should go swimmingly. Unfortunately, in the great ocean of local amateur kinds of power, there are the usual sharks lurking amongst the swarms of ordinary fish in the pond. Most of the latter simply want to swim around in their little corners of the world and enjoy life while expecting the elected bodies to carry out the business so that peace of mind may reign.  How ideal that would be. Most condos hire a management company that does have the education in matters of condominium business: collecting fees, listening to gripes and generally, being courteous and cooperative. The council has hired the management company and ought to listen to their advice. Council's job is to see that their "subjects" are able to go about feeling secure and content in their complex. But it is sad to see when councils begin to see themselves as landlords who can dominate other owners without due consideration of their like fellows. Dictatorial attitudes and just plain rudeness do not fit the role of Council Member.  Often it isn't the council member's fault entirely. It seems to indicate a lack of understanding what the role is. Council members should not be permitted to take office until they have learned in a condo course, how to do their jobs effectively and under some sort of ethical code. They are not kings and queens to rule. They are actually servants of the people who elect them, and as such need to use tact and put away their egos. It is also true that they are not slaves. They  try to do their best, but it's not an easy job, nor does it pay well, in fact, not at all.  Councils need to know their parameters. They need educating. There is no requirement by government at present for one to be on a council and yet many of these untrained bodies control a very large amount of other people's monies.  Knowledge is king. A council member I heard about recently, didn't like what happened at a meeting,and is going to instruct the secretary to remove what he doesn't like, thus change the motion. That is a legal no-no but this man, doesn't have the knowledge to realize that.  Councils must operate by the rules and maintain order and peace so that all owners may enjoy their property - but who is watchdogging this?