The HQ sizes have been adjusted to lower the time commitment required to run a family, while giving them the ability to maint control over who they pick as members and fellow crews that they work with.

I believe the answer to a blend of happy uppers and happy members is somewhere in between, where the leaders can pick who is at the top, as long as they can provide the services that are required for members. 

If we get back to the point where there's always a place for a new user to find a welcoming crew on the job board, then we can look at expanding crew sizes in a proportional way to maintain the highest level of quality leaders, and the best experience for the users.

If at any time you do not want the responsibilities of the job board, then please turn it off, it is 100% optional, there are others who can provide coverage to those who otherwise would rather remain a private crew.  I ask that the job board only be turned on if you are willing to take in new members who apply.  If you are not, then please do not turn it on.  The lowest standard being allowed is viewed as the standard that has the blessing by everyone around them - so be mindful.

I will not be selecting container crews, it is up to the leaders to pick who they choose to augment their ranks.  I will be adjusting code and feature sets to best preserve the userbase - when something is working well it does not need to be adjusted, when something isn't, it will be.

"so what happens to crews with more than 20 members? Do they have to downsize within a certain amount of time?"

If you have 30 members and now you have a 20 man HQ, then nothing happens, you have 0 free slots and therefor are unable to invite new members until you have free slots.

There is no downside in this situation.

"Make container crews and give us 30 days - we'll build and take out everyone."

I would rather the existing CLs pick who they work with.

" So many questions. Reduction in crew size? Reduction in time required? Picking members has always been a thing. "

The job board is for crews who want to take in new members.  If you you do not want to take on new members, you should not be misrepresenting yourself for the sole purpose of staving off rebuild - you should simply allow another crew to set up.

"Turning it off will no longer math into threats of rebuild? Hence throwing the cite into rebuld?"

If there is coverage, it will not go into rebuild.

"I am confused and quite frankly I do not understand how this will help us grow either. Tahe a Cl who has a small crew of maybe 7 and only a couple are actually active. Is this not coddling them to stay in power?" 

Simply put, the leaders set the standards and control all facets of the game.  If you want to control who can be leaders and who can be members, then you have to handle the responsibility of the job board and the onboarding of new members.  You can not control everything and then neglect the responsibilities too.  It is 100% ok if you do not want to do any of the responsibilities of it - someone else can do it - but then you can't then also prevent them from doing it.

Long story short, arrange coverage on the job board, OR, let others provide coverage on the job board, but the moment that you say you need to control it all, BUT don't have the time to handle the job board BUT also won't allow anyone else to handle the job board and you fudge the numbers to ensure that you can keep that charade up as long as possible - then there is an issue.

What I am doing is removing the amount of time commitment there is since that was at the top of the list of reasons offered.  If I lower the amount of work that has to be done, then it should become easier. 

So when faced with the choice of 'The current leadership is unable/unwilling to provide a way for new members to join' or 'spawn admin crews to do it for them', I am sticking by the CLs, allowing them to pick who they want, and helping them with their answer of that its too much responsibility, so now they can evenly share the responsibility with the others of their choosing to lighten the load.  The problem gets solved, their concern that its too much work is solved, and I do not have to bring in auths that they did not approve.  Everything is still 100% in their control, and they have less work on their plates, which should remove the issue.

Im simply asking for clarity. Crew leaders clearly have jobs/sponsors on but they clearly have no intention to recruit the ones doing the jobs so what's the point, and with such implications on war I figured it was interesting enough to bring up 

This is the decision of everyone, from the lowest Civ to the highest GFC. The standards are only as high as what -everyone- tolerates. If bad activity is allowed to continue, then it's a race to the bottom and all the problems that come with it. 

I am no longer involved in what standards are enjoyed by the site as a collective.  If the leaders don't show interest in the job board - that is OK. I simply react via code changes to cater to the majorities wishes, even if it quickly accelerates the the degradation of the site. Right now, it is very counterproductive to operate this way, but the lack of any interest in any form of standard is pretty much the status quo right now. Users are too comfortable with letting someone else drive their entertainment - the downside is when you willingly hand the keys over, you lose the proper footing to make change, and every day it makes it more difficult.

So to summarize, if you believe the leaders are the best the site has to offer, then sit back and enjoy, hell, even throw your weight behind them and ensure that they have everything needed to shape the vision you feel would provide the best experience for you and those around you.  If you do not think they are the best to offer, be constructive and offer a blueprint on how to improve. Draft the standards you feel would steer things into the direction you feel is best. If that fails, evaluate if your standards have wiggle room for compromise, if no further progress can be made, maybe its time to ask yourself if have what it takes to drive your owns story rather than sitting back and letting someone else write yours for you.