I agree with NYDave.
> sent me an email stating that he would like to be our moderator!
Actually: that I could host a forum; if so, I'd have to hold the Big Stick in case of trouble with my organization's net-ops office.
But someone else did it, and I'm happy to let him have the glory and the pain.
And I also moderate another forum, and am not really looking for more chores. Anyway I'll be spread thin for a while: kitchen re-model (to the point that some days I can't get to the PC for all the new wood, cabinets, and wiring supplies) plus my boss wants new pictures on his website and my co-workers let it go until he got a bug about it.
The best forums are self-moderating. The general flavor tends to guide discussions, and the cooler heads can calm hot-heads. In 6 years on "my" forum, I rarely moved messages out of sight, and never locked-out anyone. Gentle peer-pressure and general good example works wonders.
I may wind up carrying a moderator stick here, but would only use it in emergencies: someone crapping-up the forum really bad. I suspect there should be several people with such emergency power so that if they happen to be first on the scene of a mess, they can mop-up ASAP.