I'm glad to hear that things are coming along. As for the team requirement issue; I thought this was already voted on once? That was before my time, but wouldn't the vote just repeat itself? Or was there something wrong with the vote at that time (I understand that some voting fixes have occurred)?
What is the sense on how the vote would go? If the whales don't like it then obviously we don't get it.
It previously lost by like 1%, I think it's highly likely to be removed in the future.
You're correct that the vote would never pass without whale support, but the general feel in the community at the moment is that it will easily pass.
Of course, there are some silent whales where we will have to just wait and see how they vote.