Updating Cagendas Rules - Implementing Minimum Vote Threshold for Optimism Town Hall

Proposal Summary

This proposal establishes a minimum threshold of 2,000 respect votes required on any topic proposal to trigger an Optimism Town Hall event, updating our current Cagendas rules to ensure sustainable resource allocation while maintaining community-driven discussions.

Purpose and Context

Since its inception, Cagendas has successfully democratized topic selection across 38 Optimism Town Hall episodes, creating an innovative system that has enabled community-driven discussions while maintaining high-quality, focused conversations about critical Collective priorities. This proposal represents a strategic evolution in how we coordinate Optimism Town Hall events, introducing a minimum vote threshold that balances community autonomy with sustainable resource allocation across our growing ecosystem of governance initiatives.

Optimism Town Hall serves two essential stakeholder groups that are deeply intertwined. First, it provides a dedicated space for the Optimism Fractal community to form consensus, discuss critical governance matters, and coordinate collective action. Second, it creates educational content and facilitates important discussions that benefit the broader Optimism Collective, helping newcomers understand the ecosystem while keeping experienced builders informed about cutting-edge governance innovations. Balancing service to both audiences requires thoughtful resource allocation, which this proposal helps achieve while ensuring we continue meeting the needs of both communities effectively.

Current Cagendas Rules

1. Anyone with OPF (Optimism Fractal Respect tokens) can propose topics by creating polls in the Optimism Town Hall snapshot space
2. Anyone can vote on polls with their OPF to help determine discussion topics
3. The poll with the most votes by Monday at 17 UTC becomes the topic for that week's Town Hall
4. Town Hall events are held every other Thursday at 18 UTC following Optimism Fractal events

Proposed Rule Addition

Add Rule 5: A minimum threshold of 2,000 respect votes must be achieved on the winning topic proposal by Monday 17:00 UTC for that week's Optimism Town Hall to be held. If no proposal reaches this threshold, the Town Hall will not occur (though Optimism Fractal Respect Game events continue unaffected).

Note: I think Optimism badgeholders can also propose topics and vote, but am not sure and we'd need to test this to confirm.

Strategic Rationale

The implementation of this threshold creates multiple benefits that strengthen our ecosystem's overall impact. By ensuring meaningful discussions occur when there's demonstrated community interest, we naturally elevate the quality of our conversations and attract more engaged participants who are deeply invested in the outcomes. This approach allows both the Optimystics and Eden Creators teams to focus their efforts where they create maximum value, whether that's producing high-quality Town Hall content when the community shows strong interest, or channeling resources toward other critical initiatives like Eden Fractal Epoch 2, technical infrastructure development, and expanding fractal governance tools across the Superchain.

This evolution respects the reality that sustainable operations require thoughtful resource management. Video production, event coordination, technical maintenance, and governance documentation each require significant time and expertise. By implementing this threshold, we ensure these investments align with community demand while maintaining our commitment to democratic participation. The community retains full control over when Town Hall events occur - they simply need to demonstrate sufficient collective interest to trigger them.

Governance Context and Framework

Understanding the governance structure of Optimism Town Hall provides essential context for this proposal. As host of Optimism Town Hall, I (Dan Singjoy) recognize that while I maintain executive authority over hosting decisions, legitimacy comes from democratic approval and community consent. This is why I'm proposing this change to the Optimism Fractal Council rather than implementing it unilaterally.

This approach reflects a deeper governance philosophy where executive functions (hosting and production) align with legislative decisions (community consensus) to create legitimate, sustainable operations. The Optimism Fractal Council, elected through our sophisticated Respect Game mechanism, represents the most democratic and meritocratic body we have for making these decisions. By seeking their approval, we ensure that changes to Town Hall operations reflect genuine community will rather than individual preferences.

The relationship between Optimism Fractal and Optimism Town Hall exemplifies effective governance design. While technically separate entities, Town Hall has evolved to serve as a critical forum for Optimism Fractal's consensus-building needs while simultaneously creating valuable content for the broader Collective. This dual purpose makes the Optimism Fractal Council the natural governance body for Town Hall decisions - they understand both the immediate community needs and the broader ecosystem impact.

Benefits to the Broader Optimism Collective

The Optimism Fractal Council's governance of Town Hall decisions provides significant benefits to the entire Collective, demonstrating how localized democratic processes can effectively serve broader ecosystem needs:

Meritocratic Representation: The Optimism Fractal Respect Game provides one of the most sophisticated mechanisms available for measuring genuine contributions to the Collective. Unlike simple token holdings or arbitrary metrics, Respect is earned through consistent peer evaluation of actual contributions. This creates a governance system where decisions reflect insights from those actively building and contributing to the ecosystem. The gaming resistance built into the Respect Game's design - through randomized groups and consensus requirements - ensures that influence correlates directly with genuine value creation rather than wealth or manipulation.

Responsive Governance Infrastructure: The Optimism Fractal community maintains weekly touchpoints with ecosystem developments through our regular events, creating direct feedback loops with builders, contributors, and governance participants across the Collective. This consistent engagement means Council decisions reflect current ecosystem needs rather than outdated assumptions. Our proven track record of thoughtful governance over 60+ events, combined with deep alignment with Collective values, makes this community uniquely qualified to guide Town Hall operations in service of the broader ecosystem. The relationships and trust built through regular participation create a governance network that can quickly identify and respond to emerging needs.

Bridge to Pluralistic Governance: While current voting is limited to OPF tokens due to technical constraints with integrating OP tokens, this system serves as an important bridge toward more inclusive governance. We're actively working to implement custom voting strategies that would allow OP token holders, badge holders, and other stakeholder groups to participate in topic selection. This threshold mechanism demonstrates how effective governance can function during this transition period, maintaining operations and community trust while technical solutions are developed. The precedent we set here - of threshold-based, merit-weighted decision making - provides a model for future pluralistic systems that balance different stakeholder interests while preventing plutocratic capture.

Implementation Details

Upon approval, this rule takes effect immediately, applying to all future Town Hall events while Optimism Fractal events continue their regular biweekly schedule regardless of Town Hall status. We'll ensure clear communication to the community about this change through our standard channels, with a grace period for community adjustment if needed. The threshold of 2,000 respect votes can be adjusted through future governance proposals as we learn from implementation and as our community grows.

Long-term Vision

This proposal positions Optimism Town Hall for sustainable growth while maintaining its essential role in our governance ecosystem. As we develop technical solutions for multi-token voting, expand fractal governance tools across the Superchain, and continue building bridges between different stakeholder groups, this threshold mechanism ensures we're allocating resources where they create the most value. The flexibility built into this system - allowing community adjustment of thresholds and integration of new voting mechanisms - means we can evolve with the Collective's needs while maintaining operational sustainability.

Conclusion

This proposal represents thoughtful evolution rather than radical change. By implementing a reasonable threshold, we ensure Optimism Town Hall remains a vibrant forum for critical discussions while enabling the broader ecosystem development necessary for the Collective's continued growth and decentralization. The governance structure we're reinforcing - where the Optimism Fractal Council guides decisions that affect both immediate community needs and broader Collective benefits - demonstrates how sophisticated democratic processes can effectively coordinate resources across multiple stakeholder groups.

Your support for this proposal helps create sustainable, impactful governance infrastructure that serves not just our immediate community but the entire Optimism vision of building an equitable internet. Through this measured approach to resource allocation, we strengthen our ability to serve both the Optimism Fractal community's need for consensus-building forums and the broader Collective's need for high-quality educational content and governance innovation.