I’m grunching hardcore here, but I’d like to put forth a proposal for forum governance to hopefully solve all of these issues.
Admin - currently jmakin. Handles all technical aspects of the forum. Helps weigh in on moderation issues and general forum policies but has no duties related to day to day moderation. Serves in this position for as long as they are willing to and commits to not leaving this job without finding and training a suitable replacement from the community.
Moderators - 4 mods who serve 1 year terms, with two mods rotating out every 6 months. After serving 1 year, must take 6 months off before becoming a mod again. Handles day to day moderation of posts where necessary and has power to issue temp bans as they see fit up to 24 hours. Any ban over this length (up to and including permanent) must be voted on by the full mod team. A temp ban may be issued while the longer length ban is discussed. If an issue is a 2-2 tie between the mod team admin breaks the tie. This is the only time admin decides on moderation issues.
Forum Arbiters - 3 people in this position. Should be viewed as people who never participate in forum drama and can be as unbiased as possible. Help step in to resolve complaints raised by posters against a mod or the moderation policies of the site as a whole. A ban over 24 hours may also be appealed to this group. Otherwise they have zero day to day moderation duties. Decisions require minimum 2-1 majority and are final. Serve in this position for as long as they are willing to.
meb’s proposal in another thread is worth considering. he seems to have put a lot of thought into it, and it could be a good starting point for discussion.
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