This thread has dragged on a bit now and I for one don't feel comfortable with it's current direction.
It should never have been resurected on the 5th of April IMHO
Struggle to see the reasoning behind that comment, Nige. 5th April post was someone floating an idea ... that's something "we" try to encourage on here. Wether you agree with an idea or not is a different matter, but pro or con it's certainly not grounds to say the post shouldn't have been made.
An "elite" group, however arranged, rather flies in the face of our much quoted and unwritten ethos, so in my view, the only options would be ... 1) do nothing, 2) have a separate board, 3) have a separate board visible only to members who are logged in, 4) Burn Tony at the stake for starting this thread in the first place.