There was a proposal made on 2009-03-10 that was discussed through a week and about 50 posts before Reggie executed the changes.

You might argue that was a short period of time. Fair enough. On the othr hand if you follow the posters and the thanks you see that most of the usual suspects had a say, so it looked like having reached a critical mass for a change.

No votes, but no huge discussion either. There were many opinions and the original proposal evolved to integrate them.

I notice this is the opposite approach you have: throw a poll first and discuss after. Well, in my experience discussion helps to reach consensus while polls tend to stress divisions and polarize the debate. This is why I think voting is a last resort for making community decisions, not the first one.

It's like in this poll. You say "I don't have an answer, I only post to you my problem as I see it." but in fact you do have an answer and quite clear. The poll is a means for you to know how much support you get for that answer: "I want my advocates "Maemo Community Council" to promote important issues up to the community for discussion in a consistent manner in a consistent location." (2h after opening the poll)

You could have started with the proposal you actually have in mind asking for feedback to contest it or improve it.