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All,

As you are aware, I was elected to be a moderator of this site last year. As a person who loves chemistry and no longer works in the field, I have been continually happy to provide support where needed. I especially love being able to observe - with some measure of envy - those who are fortunate enough to be practicing chemists via interactions here on Chem.SE.

There are numerous reasons why I am stepping down: some are of the personal nature, and some are relevant to my participation here on Chem.SE. The former shall remain personal.

The latter are directly a result of my inability to provide the best judgement in the role of moderator. As many of you are aware, I am one of less-forgiving members here (for better or for worse). That said and acknowledged, it is not in the best interest of the community for me to stay on given personal demands in my life and my shortcomings as a moderator.

I am hopeful that another candidate will step in and be able to provide assistance in running and growing the site as a moderator. It is a rewarding and challenging task. The community needs and deserves a more balanced presence than I can provide in the moderator role.

There will be a moderator election in the next couple of months (stay tuned). I will continue to serve in my role until then.

I thank andselisk, BuckThorn, Martin, and orthocresol for support and guidance during my short tenure. I thank the community for electing me and for letting me hang around.

Cheers!

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    $\begingroup$ You did a great job and I wish you were staying on! All I can say is thanks for all the work and thought you put into a largely ‘behind the scenes’ voluntary job! Best wishes! $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented May 2, 2022 at 23:13
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    $\begingroup$ When I was much younger, we used to say there was a fine line between an open mind and an empty head. Good moderators, like we have in the chemistry stack exchange, help us toe that line. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 0:46
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    $\begingroup$ I had no complaints, and do not remember any drama. What I don't understand is why these moderator jobs are for life. The only way you can stop being a moderator is by resigning? That does not seem right. $\endgroup$
    – Karsten Mod
    Commented May 5, 2022 at 13:09
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    $\begingroup$ @KarstenTheis - Thank you for the kind words. As for the job for life, I agree with you that it's not a good thing. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Minehardt
    Commented May 6, 2022 at 2:20

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Todd, allow me to say thanks for your service over the last year (and over the next couple of months)! It has really been a great help to have someone deal with flags etc. more regularly, and to participate in discussions both public and private. This is especially so in light of my constant complaint that most of the current mods (myself) are practically inactive ;)

It's true that some of your actions have drawn controversy, but I think it's worth pointing out that this is only a small fraction of what you've done. (For those who are not privy to moderator stats, I can assure you that this is indeed the case.) Also, we'd be lying if we didn't admit to having our fair share of run-ins too — although I try to avoid that nowadays, mainly by not doing anything.

Finally, I'd like to wish you all the best for real life, and we definitely hope to see you continue contributing around the site, whether as a moderator or not!

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    $\begingroup$ Fun fact: I tried to start this answer with "Hi Todd", but Stack Exchange automatically strips greetings from the top of answers, so it kept appearing as if I launched straight in with "allow me to..." See also: chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4542/16683 $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 14:54
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    $\begingroup$ I should put a bounty on this answer, but that would probably prevent me from ever achieving my lifetime goal of getting the very much-coveted “approve tag wiki edits” privilege. ;-) Seriously, though, you moderators do a great job keeping things running professionally and smoothly. We don’t say it often enough, but thank you all! $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 16:59

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