As for the "jokes" that have brought things to a head... I tend to ignore them because I find them annoying (and they are usually fairly obvious). If a particular "joke" has caused forum-wide upset then I'll just stay off MLNO until things have calmed down.
Which isn't necessarly hard cause we usually only use one or two boards and don't usually spend anymore than a day on it. =P
In any case, I'm fine with democratizing the system, but only if it doesn't effect the overall ability for Mods/GMs/Admins to do their jobs. For example, if it takes a while to create a needed board, or ban a possible threat. In other words, we need to explain what the counsel can/can't do, other than elect/appoint mods/admins.
I was under the impression that other than mod/admin elections, the Member Council would only be consulted for forum-wide issues like drills, pranks, new skins, forum reorganizations, etc. For example, if the Council had existed before the Ogihci riddles, it would have had to vote on MLN:Next Gen, since it's a major category of the forum. Likewise, they would have had to vote on the new portal system. However, they would NOT have a say in the technical implementation of the changes; that authority and responsibility belongs to the mods/admins themselves.
The members on the Council would have no special power; their power could only be excercised as a group (and even then a consensus would usually require at least a two-thirds vote).
