HOA Homefront: Why not hire our neighbor?

A very common temptation in the HOA is to hire one of the members or a tenant to work for the association. The arguments often are that the resident or member is known to all, offering a discount, and knows the property well. Some HOAs even hire a resident to manage the association.
Only the very smallest associations can operate without a professional manager, and they tend to operate more like partnerships than HOAs.
Experienced managers are expected to be current on the governance and financi