Thanks for bringing this into spotlight Jerry! To me it was a logical step to vote @riverhead as a witness from the very beginning. From my personal point of view he's one of the best community builders (not only by running steemit.chat). That he didn't receive the needed support to become one of the top 20 is really surprising - and also saddening!
I think fired means that he wasn't supported in the way he expected, and to be honest I can completely understand that. Long time steemit.chat was the no 1. spot of messenging and even a project planning tool. Now discord is growing very fast, but still steemit.chat is like an institution. I know people that spend more time in the chat than on the blockchain. There's a lot of communicational power bundled.
Again, I'd love to see @riverhead being a top 20 witness since he really deserves to be one!