As a community, we have grown in leaps and bounds since "the founding". We're a popular bit of real estate, and more and more people want to live here.

So what started as a small "bedroom community" is now a huge housing tract.

When it was just a small bedroom community, the local sherrif (Randy) and a deputy or two were enough to "keep the peace" and help "lost and stranded motorists" (newcommers who either mis-posted or wanted to know where to post).

As the population expanded, the police force needed to expand with it. A forum with a dozen people posting a dozen responses a day is far different from some forums like UA and AA where hundreds of people post thousands of responses and start dozens of threads a day. The "neighborhood watch" that used to be able to keep order was overwhelmed and a professional security force had to be put into place.

As Randy noted, moderators are not cops. So my analogy is flawed beyond the meta level. They are volunteers. They are accountable for their actions to a higher power. They can become moderators with the desire to "serve and protect" or to "disservice and neglect", but if they choose the latter course, they will soon find themselves no longer welcome by the "real" power on this board - Randy.

Obviously, one man's meat is another man's poison. Actions that one person find fair and impartial are unfair and spiteful to another. So even if a moderator consults their peers before taking the action, you can't please everyone all the time. And at that point, issues should be taken privately to Randy. Fortunately, ORP no longer seems to be the Court of Public Opinion it was until ra few months ago, which also happens to predate wharvey's appointment as moderator by months, so it looks like the Community as a whole is moving towards a more...moderate...response to moderator actions.