Unfortunately, that's not how TB works, and if it did, I can imagine a number of complaints about how moderators get sooo much say in the process. Just as TB doesn't have any say over moderation, so moderators do not get any special say over TB issues - it's up to individual TB members to decide how much weight to assign to moderator's concerns on an issue. And we've seen in this thread that some TB members don't think moderator's concerns have any validity, whereas others do. And before someone mentions that there are moderators who are also TB members - I will and have taken the position that moderator concerns are outweighed by benefits to the board on some issues. And I'll do it again in the future, should I feel the situation warrants it. I don't feel that this situation warrants it. I see little unanimity from those pushing avatars (since some of you want photos, and some of you want anything you like so long as it isn't personal photos), so I'm not even sure that someone could come up with a cohesive motion to represent the pro-avatar position!

We also do have a process for these things. I'm sure as soon as we get some other stuff sorted out, someone will take this onto the TB private forums for discussion on there, which is a necessary first step in that process.