i think the hub leaders should support the company, or they shouldn't be hub leaders, and for that matter they probably shouldn't be in the forum at all. that doesn't mean you have to agree with everything the company does. you may disagree with the company raising debt or equity, or the way some operations are handled. but if a hub leader doesn't have any bias in favor of the company, and doesn't own any shares, i have to wonder why he's in the forum in the first place. as i have said before, freedom of expression is one thing, but agoracom does not have to give equal time to bashers.

as a hub leader you do what you can to keep the bickering to a minimum and help the forum stay on message. when hub leaders cannot resolve their differences, then agoracom will be the final arbiter. as far as deleting messages, doing so without using the manage violations procedure is poor technique. going through the proper procedure not only leaves a trail for the other hub leaders and agoracom to follow, it also helps build a case against the poster in case you need to take further disciplinary action later.

if you just delete the message, there is no record of what you did, or why you did it. but if you create a record of violations processed, and the poster continues to misbehave, then if you decide to ban him, you can point to all of his prior transgressions, and show that he had received fair warning.

i think the problem in your forum is being caused by a hub leader, and not by the agoracom system. if the frustrated posters in your forum are basically good people, then everyone can learn to refrain from saying offensive things. but when i have to deal with worthless bashers coming in from the yahoo board, justice will have to be swift and final, without the need for anyone to co-sign for it. if other hub leaders are abusing that power, you can bring that to the attention of agoracom and let them decide. hub leaders can be removed, too.