"If you could contribute something positive toward moving the platform toward a democratic process for choosing our top twenty witnesses, that would be enough."
Personally I would completely do away with the Witnesss system. Some of the worst abusers on Steemit are actually Witnesses. i.e. @themarkymark, @blocktrades (AKA @unclemantis), @gtg, @cervantes, etc. These people downvote other members for no reason other than their own personal hate.
Witnesses should NOT have the ability to downvote other members. Doing so should immediately remove them as a Witness, and perhaps even have all their Steem Power taken away. Also, allow members to vote "against" Witnesses, without retaliation, NOT just for them.
Please read the whitepaper before speaking again.