smira membership
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SMIRA Membership
The Full and Associate SMIRA membership differences are:
Full membership, per SMIRA’s Articles of Association, is limited to one person per property owned or leased for over 5 years. Full members can appoint directors and vote on amendments to the Articles.
Associate membership is SMIRA’s temporary solution to bridge some of the gap for residents who currently can’t be members and the full membership.
Full membership is the current membership according to the current Articles of Association (the rules that govern SMIRA). The Articles state that only one person per property which is owned or leased/ rented for over 5 years can be a member. Full members can appoint directors to the SMIRA Board and only they can make changes to the articles by way of a vote.
The Articles of Association are a legal document and in order to change it, SMIRA needs to consult all residents, find out what changes they want and then allow full SMIRA members to have a vote on whether the articles should be changed to include all residents and any changes.
This will take time and planning. SMIRA is working on the planning of this so it can present this to residents later in the year and start consultation next year.
Meanwhile it is introducing Associate membership for those not currently eligible for full membership so more residents can be members, be eligible to become sector representatives and enjoy the member benefits SMIRA wishes to roll out.
Associate membership is SMIRA’s temporary solution to bridge some of the gap for residents who currently can’t be members and the full membership. To be an associate member you need to be the second named owner of a property or lease/rent for less than 5 years.
This membership does NOT reduce the rights that FULL members have, but allows those not currently eligible to have a form of membership so they can nominate themselves for sector representation and enjoy future SMIRA benefits. They can also enjoy some voting rights like full members in relation to community events and how the SMIRA budget is spent. The table below shows the differences between the two types of membership.
This is why SMIRA need to carry out a full consultation so everyone understands what is needed and full members know what they are being asked to vote for.
If full members vote to include all other eligible residents to become full members, then SMIRA will automatically convert associate members to full.
SMIRA are planning the consultation for everyone. This could involve information sent out by email, leaflets, drop ins, focus groups and presentations at formal residents meetings.
SMIRA will present its proposal for residents to sign off at a Formal Residents Meeting before it can start the consultation. It is anticipated that the consultation will take place in 2020.
Residents can make a donation to SMIRA work if they wish, but this is NOT a requirement to join.
Currently the Articles of Association state that only full members have a vote to change anything within the Articles which could allow all residents to be full SMIRA will take the rest of 2019 to plan the consultation, roll out other initiatives such as sector representation and member benefits and deliver the summer event.
Yes, all memberships (Full or Associate) are free to join.
SMIRA is encouraging all residents who are eligible to become members, to register by using the word register at the top of this screen. Once registered, SMIRA’s secretary will confirm your membership separately by email.
SMIRA is seeking to rollout out a number of new initiatives such as Member Benefits and is asking all existing members to re-register by clicking the word register at the top of this screen.
This will also help SMIRA to reduce the administration burden required from managing membership.
If you require help to re-register and for all other matters, please use our contact form and we contact you to provide support.
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