Yes, Yes, Yes. many times during my terms as moderator, the discussions with the CM's requested 5 moderators. I am sure the discussion happened again before this election, and I am surprised that it was not implemented even before the election was announced.
Neither Jamal nor Malachai are frequent moderators, it's not uncommon for them to be away for days between visits, which leaves the balance of moderator activity in the hands of the remaining 2 moderators. The effect is that many days, there are just 2 moderators, and the addition of a moderator would be significantly helpful.
Yes - post-add post-haste.
Update: I was prompted to revisit the history of moderation on this site. After the first election, we (the moderators) requested a 5th, and @janos was included in the moderation team (he was the next-in-line from the previous election).
If forget how it is that we went from 5, back down to 4.... I am surprised that we did not replace the full compliment of moderators at the next election.
Regardless, the precedent has already been established for both:
- elevating a runner-up in an election
- having a 5-member mod team