Cohousing-L Mailing List: professionals joining the community after working on it

[Doug Huston (ldrnmsw]

I am inquiring about how it has been for communities when someone  
becomes a member who has previously worked in a professional capacity  
on the project. There are some threads in the archives about hiring  
group members, but I believe what I am asking about is a bit  
different. I know there are architects or developers who have worked  
as professionals in the community they subsequently lived in. How has  
this been?
Briefly, our circumstances are as follows:
We are an almost completed community (July '07?) in which the members  
have acted as our own developers. The person in question has been the  
former land owner, the "burning soul" who guided and propelled the  
project, the house designer, and is now the customer rep (liason  
between the group and the builder). I say without doubt that without  
the person, the project would not have otherwise occurred. This, in  
addition to being an inextricably integral player and friend in the  
community. A change in life circumstances has led to the 10th hour  
consideration of living in the community.
I have heard of blamed being visited upon architects and project  
managers in communities they have designed or managed. I am  
interested in that, but also in something a bit different. I am  
interested in difficulties with changing roles, power-sharing,  
ascribed and prescribed authority, hierarchy, etc.  Is there advice  
for heading off, or handling these challenges, and others I have not  
considered? I realize the topic is potentially quite sensitive (it is  
in our community), and as a result I encourage off-list responses if  
that is more comfortable. Responses from customer reps, developers,  
architects, and regular old community members welcomed. Thanks in  
advance.

- Doug Huston (Ashland, OR)