But the board would never have stayed up without the mods volunteering.
I’m sure it is a bit of both for the mods and varies by mod. It has to be some amount of liking the bit of power but I think mostly it is a thankless job they do and have done for years to keep this board a good place to hang out and get information and entertainment.
It is not exactly as if the Chicago Reader would have paid for mods and especially mods in off hours. Would the board have grown and strived as much as it did without free work from the mods?
Even if you think the board has been mishandled, it is still a fairly large one that has useful posts and is spam free.
Jim