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    While I understand the feeling, there's been sites where elections took place. Bringing back mods unilaterally may not always be a good approach. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't think reinstatement without my site community and their actual mods approval for example.
    – Tensibai
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 7:02
  • 27
    @Tensibai that's how it worked until October, though -- any mod who had stepped down and wanted to come back could do so for the asking. At worst, a site ends up with one more mod than it currently "needs", but that apparently wasn't a concern in the past.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 15:15
  • 2
    @MonicaCellio I agree, but as things have vastly evolved since last October... I was just pointing out that may create some tensions on some sites, better check with the sites mods if they're comfortable with the idea before offering ? (which doesn't prevent to have a talk with former mods anyway)
    – Tensibai
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 15:20
  • 2
    Have any elections even finished since these changes? I know of a couple that just started. It's not like there's been a ton of backfill.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 15:22
  • @MonicaCellio Well, I had asked to step down in early september, (first) elections on devops.se took place in October IIRC. Maybe I'm just a snowflake, it just sound common sense to me anyway to not enforce a decision on a site community.
    – Tensibai
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 15:26
  • 3
    Well, there are a few mods on a few sites which I'm relieved that they resigned (I won't name, I don't want to make it personal) and I really don't want to see reinstated. Also, I'm sure that I'm not the only one with that opinion. So, I think that some process is surely needed to avoid bringing back a few rotten apples that fell together with a lot of good ones during the storm.
    – Victor Stafusa
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 16:28
  • 5
    I think the reinstatement process is very important. When someone is elected mod, they're most often new to moderating. No one who's voting for them really knows what the result will be. However, once they've stepped down, there's a history that future decisions should take into account, and I believe the reinstatement process is a good way to solve that. I do feel more of the process should be handled by the person's peers (the mods of the site they stepped down from,) but I also have no issue with the CM team having veto power over any decision they make (this is a business after all.)
    – Kevin B
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 16:29
  • @MonicaCellio Despite all of the convoluted steps in the reinstatement process, I am not aware of anyone who has applied for reinstatement who hasn't gotten it. Most of the steps are pretty common sense.
    – Bryan Krause
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 16:39
  • 2
    @BryanKrause Go through the SO Meta Room chat transcript a couple of days or so (I believe it was). There is such a person... It won't be too hard to find as it was one of the few exchanges amid the "New Feeds" one-boxes this past week...
    – Cindy Meister
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 6:03
  • 6
    I think a heartfelt apology, admitting that SO screwed up big time, and automatic reinstatement is key to moving forward successfully. Anything less means that the legal ass-covering still trumps doing the right thing.
    – David Thielen
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 13:06
  • 6
    Anything the corporate honchos do now, even extending the olive branch, would be so tainted as to have no meaning. They have negative credibility and would only "apologize" and "make it right" because they saw no face-saving alternative. That's no improvement at all -- they are simply, at this point, beyond redemption.
    – TomServo
    Commented Feb 22, 2020 at 1:30