Request to add an extra moderator given the 2021 election results

Question

Given we just had the election, after seeing how close the final results were (the final elimination was a margin of 0.04%), I would like to formally request that Mast be instated as a moderator.

Additionally, I want to note: there is precedent for adding more moderators than open spots, and I believe that there are three justifications for doing this now:

1. This is the tightest known margin of a Stack Exchange moderator election, and was decided by fewer than 1 vote;
2. Having more moderators, given the current global stress levels (pandemic, politics, et. al.) is not a bad thing;
3. Having an odd number of moderators (or any "officiating" body) is always a good idea so that a dead-tie (50/50) cannot be achieved;

Answer 1

We've discussed this request internally and with the moderators and we decided that there's universal support for this request and so I've just made Mast a moderator on this site, joining Sᴀᴍ Onᴇᴌᴀ and Peilonrayz as a third winner of the election.

Just to throw a few things out there... having an odd number isn't usually a big deal - most of the time, mods don't circle up and vote about actions, though they may ask for feedback before doing something - so we don't really take that into account.

We also don't really see the number of slots as "fixed" based on any metrics - so (for example) we don't say "y'all get 200 flags a month, and we expect 50 flags per mod per month, so you need four mods". We have the number of mods that are needed to get the work done. If the mods on a site are comfortable with their workload with the number of mods they have - that is what's important.

If they feel like a new mod is needed for any reason, we'll see why they're asking and use that to prioritize scheduling an election. So, if they're getting bombarded with flags and someone just started a new job and needs quick relief, they might get an election right away. If there's a longer term "we'd like to have a new face on the team", it may wait a month or two.

Since y'all just had an election, it's easy enough to add a new moderator - as long as there's support for it and there's more candidates - what we set a pretty clear limitation on is that we can't "call up" the last person in an election - so if Mast had been the only other candidate, we wouldn't likely have added him to the team because we need elections to be competitive but, since there were two others, there's nothing preventing this on our end.

So, welcome to Mast - may you serve joyfully and well. :)

Answer 2

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