I’ve experienced something quite similar in my condo complex. Condominiums,coops and HOAs are Commie organizations!
I live in an HOA governed community near Washington D.C. , and almost all of the board members are ex-military or retired from civil service at the Pentagon. The way they spend money is just the way they did when working for the government. They make absolutely no attempt to negotiate a contract for anything, but they put great emphasis on the process of bidding, and drafting ridiculously detailed contract specifications without the slightest understanding of what performing the job actually entails. It dosen’t matter that all the bids are inflated because of our reputation, or that the laboriously crafted specs are complete bunk, it’s the process that counts. Not one of them has actually had to run their own business or manage a budget or face completion, because they all worked for Uncle Sam.