QUOTE(Kelly Martin @ Tue 24th November 2009, 5:54pm)
In the months after I got appointed to the ArbCom after serving as a member of the Mediation Cabal, we saw a whole bunch of obvious stairclimbers sign up to be MedCab moderators. Ever since Newyorkbrad made the move from ArbCom Clerk to ArbCom (and then subsequently Wizardman, who made the same move), the stairclimbers have identified the clerkship as the Obvious Thing To Do In Order To Reach The Brass Ring. Since the community doesn't yet think of the clerks as being All That Important, this works out well for gnomish types with aspirations of authority.
Eventually the community will figure out that ArbCom clerks are Important, and create some idiotically complicated political structure around their appointment (hey, everyking, why don't you start demanding that ArbCom clerks be popularly elected, that should make for some good fun), but for now that's the short track to fame and fortune, apparently.
Clerks shouldn't have any power, and electing them would effectively empower them by giving them a community mandate. I don't think there's a problem with clerks. People can vote for whoever they want, and in any case NYB and Wizardman are two of the most reasonable arbitrators.