Greener Pastures

Our latest newsletter is upon us.  Drinking and drugging night crawlers have been seen again - advice is to call the police.  Parking in designated snow removal areas is not permitted at any time, however maintenance contractors do it ALL the time.  A word about the snow removal area - it used to be a landscaped burm until a Board of Directors had a gravel truck pour tons of stone chips on and down the hill.  Once this eyesore had been established, the evergreen trees at the bottom of the hill took the brunt of the snow piling.  What remained after the snow melt?  Dead, broken branches of the crippled, dying trees and all manner of garbage.  This Spring the garbage was only cleaned up moments before media showed up for the play park announcement.

The newsletter stated that "City of Ottawa's bylaws requires cats to be leashed".  That is not true.  The City's bylaw states:

The Animal Care and Control By-law No. 2003-77 regulates cats in the City. Cat owners may not be required to keep their pets leashed or indoors, but they are expected, under the Animal Care and Control By-law, to be responsible for their pet’s outdoor activities such as preventing damage to or disturbance on another resident's property.

The newsletter stated that satellite dishes are not to be installed on units or fences and that any damage resulting from such installations will be charged back to the members.  The fences are dilapidated - some completely rotted out.  This may be the co-op's way of introducing new fencing in the co-op.

A note in the newsletter stated that our Property Manager will be away from June 4th - 6th (she doesn't work on Fridays).  CHF is holding their AGM in Calgary on June 5th - 8th (which includes the weekend).  I notified the office that I wouldn't be able to go - to ask the alternate delegate.  I later asked the alternate delegate if she would be going - she said 'no' - that the co-op has no money.  If our Property Manager is attending CHF's AGM, I would hope that the co-op is not paying for her expenses, as she is a Contractor.  And in no case shall there be double billing!

The newsletter ends with a quote:

Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot.

                                        Clarence Thomas

It seems that our Property Manager has turned over a new leaf.  That is such a relief.

Who is Clarence Thomas anyhow?  I guess we all can benefit from a good education.

North End United Housing Co-op

Newman - thanks for your post re North End United Housing Co-op.  Here's the link to the Grant Thornton report:

http://www.grantthornton.ca/services/reorg/bankruptcy_and_insolvency/northendunitedhousing 

NEU was formed in 2009 amalgamating four existing co-ops for a total of 131 units.  You can access more information at the following link:

 http://tinyurl.com/7dhaog5


Thanks again for the information.

LOCK (LOOK & LISTEN)

http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/3244007-review-of-local-housing-co-op-finds-75-000-deficit/

More ...

http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/region-takes-control-at-troubled-kitchener-housing-co-op-1.1239286

Stellar Interconnections

The co-op sector is extremely versatile in providing services.  Many Office Co-ordinators reinvented themselves into Property Managers.  Property Managers, in turn, incorporated themselves into companies and hired Office Co-ordinators to fill positions in co-ops.  If your co-op needs an outside Chairperson - no problem - Property Management companies can provide one, or if a co-op anticipates a particular ornery meeting, a Property Manager him/herself may show up.  Property Managers, Office Co-ordinators facilitate workshops at CHASEO.  CHASEO's Board of Directors are comprised, in part, of Office Managers and Office Co-ordinators.  Property Managers have infiltrated other non-profit housing organizations.  And then there's the lucrative condo market ...

Our co-op uses contractors from CHASEO's Cost Cutters program.  CHASEO earned approximately $15,000. from their Cost Cutters program in 2012.  In political circles that would be called a kick-back scheme.  In co-op circles it's called expediency for Property Managers - less work!

The circle is very cozy indeed.

PET PEEVES, PARTICIPATION & YOU

When Bill 14 is enacted, it will deal with most co-op evictions under the Landlord and Tenant Board.  Co-op members will not necessarily know who is facing eviction or what By-law the potential evictee has broken.

Some by-laws are absolutely ridiculous, such as the one I wrote about in my blog post/poem Meanderings in February, 2009.  Here is an extract from that post:

Dogs were barely tolerated, but those poor cats - they had a time of it alright. What to do about their pooping in neighbour's yards? At our All Members Meeting my husband suggested that Members could tattoo pets with unit numbers to be seen from fifty feet away and that the co-op could also issue individual dyes to Members to add to their pet's food. That way irate people could trace back the offending pet's droppings to its rightful owner. A Member took him seriously, but after much ado a compromise was eventually reached. The 'catch-me-if-you-can' Pet By-law No. 22 now reads:

All pet owners in the Co-op are required to purchase from the Co-op Office or the Pet Sub Committee, at their own expense, bright orange collar tags with unit number for identification purposes and ensure that their pets wear such tags.

We never saw any pets actually wear one of these tags, but that Pet By-law [22-6 (d)] remained on the books until the co-op, a few years later, opted to adhere to the City's pet bylaw.  Technically though, the co-op could have evicted all pet owners who violated this by-law.  

Another preposterous by-law is one enacted by a Southern Ontario co-op.  It reads: 
 

Members who do not participate the mandatory two (2) hours per month will be charged $50 per hour, the amount will be deemed to be housing charges. Any payments made after this charge has been incurred, the payment made will be applied to this charge first.

Our present Board of Directors declared in a newsletter months ago that members would have to fill out Participation Slips and deliver them to their Block Captains each month.  We don't have Block Captains in the co-op, so needless-to-say, no Participation Slips were ever distributed nor collected. 

How could a Block Captain verify if a member had participated in any way?  I, for one, for the past two years have been dutifully picking up garbage at different times during the day.  Pertaining to the Participation By-law in Southern Ontario, being fined $50. for each hour a member does not participate drastically raises the stakes.  If a member refuses to pay the $50. per hour fine, he/she could be up for eviction. 

Every by-law is selectively used against members.


*****
http://co-opcracy.blogspot.ca/2009/02/meanderings.html

Halls of Power

If everyone would just conform:

http://www.ilercampbell.com/blog/2012/10/unco-operative-co-oper/ 

BILL 14 Response

Letter to me from Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Linda Jeffry:
____________________
 

Thank you for your emailed messages concerning Bill 14, the Non-profit Housing Co-operatives Statute Law Amendment Act, 2013.

Under Bill 14, proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and the Co-operative Corporations Act would move most co-op tenure disputes from the courts to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).  Our government believes that the proposed legislation, if passed by the legislature, would bring greater efficiency, accessibility and transparency to the process of resolving co-op tenure disputes.

Under the proposed legislation, co-op providers and members would be provided most of the same protections, benefits and responsibilities currently given to landlords and tenants who appear before the LTB, including access to mediation services.  Co-op members facing eviction would have the right to a hearing and would also be able to access the Tenant Duty Counsel program at the LTB.  This program would help residents with low or modest incomes by providing them with improved and more affordable access to justice.

All applications for resolving tenure disputes would be adjudicated based on merit.  This would allow co-op providers and members equal opportunity to present all the facts regarding the dispute that they believe are relevant to the LTB.  In addition, the LTB adjudicator would consider  all the circumstances facing the co-op member before deciding whether to order an eviction.

Regarding other co-op disputes concerning housing charges and maintenance issues, the LTB would not be responsible for adjudicating these matters.  These disputes would continue to be handled by co-ops internally or, if necessary, through the courts.  The reason for this is that the model for co-op membership is different from the landlord and tenant relationship.  Co-op members participate democratically in the decision-making process that determines how funds are spent, the amount of housing charges, and what the rules of conduct are.  In addition to processes available through the democratic structure of the co-op, co-op members can also rely on municipal bylaws and, if necessary, the courts to deal with maintenance issues and other disputes.

I also noted your comments about community legal clinics, and I would encourage you to contact the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) regarding your concerns.  ACTO works on behalf of Ontario residents who have low incomes – including tenants, co-op members and people who are homeless.  ACTO is funded by Legal Aid Ontario and works with legal clinics, tenant associations, and other groups and individuals concerned about housing issues.  You can contact ACTO by telephone at (416) 597-5855 or toll-free at 1-866-245-4182, or you can visit their website at www.acto.ca for more information.

In closing, I want to inform you that – should Bill 14 pass Second Reading and be referred to a Standing Committee – you would have the opportunity to participate in the legislative process by making a submission to, or appear before, the Standing Committee.  For more information about the Standing Committee process, and to track the progress of the bill, please contact the Committees Branch of the legislature by telephone at 416-325-3500; or you can visit the Ontario legislature’s website at www.ontla.on.ca.

Once again, thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention.  Please accept my best wishes.  

Sincerely,

Linda Jeffrey

Minister