what if they let gests have anouther place where they can build that has plugins like the original server from 1.8... this seems like a problem not having a place for gests to be safe from grifers and steelers... even i thought it wasnt fair to give poor protection to gests when i lived in the bedlam... I think the reason there quitting is because there place gets destroyed or stuff gets stolen, Maby if there was anouther place for gests that has plugins the player amount would increase like in the original server. Thus more high rank people to watch over the other players. Plus with the lack of high rank players, I think new set of leaders would be smart. I dont mean kick the old ranks but look for new ones to insure no server problems.
What I could gather from that messy post of yours is that you want a safe place for Guests to build, is that it? We already have it - the Hub. All it takes is the small matter of registering on our forums, then applying for [R]. Not so hard, eh?
      As for new officers... We have a few Veterans, it would indeed be a delight seeing more. More Operators would be nice too, in my opinion. Why aren't there more? Well, we might just have a lack of suitable players. All this is just speculation, as I really don't know anything :L I have to admit that being an Operator on SMP would be a nightmare. Always having to run around, helping folks...