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Well, it's January, which is the traditional time to hold a moderator election on Server Fault.

My question is; do you think we need one? I'd like input from everyone - new users, regular users, high rep users, current moderators and even SE staff.

Things to note:

  1. We haven't had any moderators retire in the past 12 months
  2. If you think we do need an election, state how many people you think we need
  3. Do we need to focus only on a specific timezone/timeframe?
  4. This is not an official moderator election thread; if people decide we need one then we still need to approach SE themselves and ask them if they concur, as they have the final say.
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  • Interesting that the number of people who voted dropped so much between 2011 and 2012.
    – Ward - Trying Codidact Mod
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 8:18
  • 19
    I'd be interested in running for treasurer... but I don't see a need for new moderators, given the lack of opportunity for embezzlement in that position.
    – HopelessN00b
    Commented Jan 12, 2013 at 0:03

4 Answers 4

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As I write this, there seems to be a general movement towards "don't need one", with which I agree. But if we decide not to, I think we should reserve the right to have one later in 2013 if it proves needed.

That is, instead of saying "we don't need one now, the next one will be January 2014", we say "we don't need one now, so we won't have one now; but we'll have one later if it's needed, and either we'll have an election or we'll have this discussion again no later than January 2014".

Perhaps this is an unnecessary caveat, and it's just the sysadmin in me wanting to set expectations correctly - but you're all sysadmins too, so you might identify with that!

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  • 2
    Agreed. Let's have one if/when the need arises.
    – John Gardeniers
    Commented Jan 12, 2013 at 9:23
19

From the times when I am active, I don't think we need any more moderators at the moment. The average flag handling time is quite adequate.

However, I know that when I am on (GMT+11) is basically the quietest time on the entire site, so your mileage may vary if you're on when the rest of the world is awake.

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  • 1
    +1 - we don't need more mods. Afaik - the only timezones we don't have fully covered is the middle east and US west coast. I'm not so sure if it's important either...
    – pauska
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 8:10
  • Agreed - this isn't an issue I've noticed at all.
    – Dan
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 9:01
  • Also agree, the mods we have are spread out around the world well enough that it seems that there is always someone on.
    – tombull89
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 9:56
  • We have enough that the occasional work/life induced absence is decently well covered.
    – sysadmin1138 Mod
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 21:50
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If our current mods are happy to continue and they don't see a need for an election then I don't believe we need one. The bunch we have now are doing a terrific job, so why rock the boat?

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    Exactly that. I think it's entirely up to you ♦ folks. If no one wants out and/or feels overburdened, I am happy with the way things are. You are all doing a great job!
    – Sven
    Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 11:31
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The reason for needing new mods is when we are lacking mods, and the current team is overstretched. IMO, if there are enough mods to do the job, elections are redundant.

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