[chelllman]

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Was the T-Mod Abusing Command powers? OR Was he authorized to do this by someone above him?

If the command is available to a staff member, then they are authorized to use it given the situation and the applicable guideline.  Therefore, T-Mod's can ban hackers for a day while they make a ban request for a Mod/Admin to complete.  It wouldn't make any sense for a rank to be given a power they aren't allowed to use because all that's left is temptation.

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For those who are currently inquiring about staffing. They are immediately Brough to this section of the forums where this is the thing they should read before applying.  The only issue with this is what I have previously mentioned. In the pinned message to direct potential new applicants you do not detail what the applicants will be doing if they are onboarded. There is a section about what qualifies somebody as a member. But qualifications and expectations are two separate parts of the whole that is a new hire to a position. 
Qualifications for a position means nothing if the proper Expecations are not communicated

While we could write out everything that a staff member might have to do on the server, it's much easier to point someone to the staff guidelines and say "These are the rules to enforce".
The majority of people that apply for Trusted have interacted with staff and seen them in action on the server, so I hope that they get a decent idea of what to expect from watching current staff.  Ultimately, the staffing experience for each person might be different depending upon time zone or random luck.

While yes I understand that these statements that statements might not have been the deciding factor in onboarding these individuals to their position. There is something to be said about the vast disparity in Qualification-presenting statements in their staff applications. Especially when the requirements for being an admin are something that is hidden from the public eye alongside their activities.

At the level im at right now (A normie) the extent to which I've seen the admins publicly work has been in forum ban request, and Staff apps. I know that this is not the fullness of what they do. But it's what im exposed too. So that's all I have reference for without second hand information. 

I do not see how privatizing the admin position qualifications serves to benefit anyone. In any other scenario. Job qualifications at all levels are vital tools for gauging the minimum of what you'd need to be hired. 

Admin requirements are obscured because they aren't exactly known.  They depend upon what a community needs at a given time.  For example, PH is a huge community.  Dink settled on 3 admins because that's what PH needed at the time.  Ultimately, the admin rank is only given out to those that Dink trusts to run one of his servers.  There is a bunch of stuff admins do behind the scenes that we don't talk about because we don't want to talk about it.  The best admin PH ever had, TheUltraFish, literally has PTSD from what he was exposed to (and protected the server from).  Ryzif has graciously sacrificed his brain cells by being the PH admin connected other gmod communities that share information about players so heinous that we ban them before they ever join our server.  Admins have to force themselves to step back from their own communities a bit so that they can be impartial when making decisions about staffing, abuse threads, or larger community issues.

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*Slight Anecdote 
It should be noted also, as of right now. The prominent threads for finding staff/qualifications does not list staff as being able to kick. This might sound  incredibly granular. However, at T-Mod Status we do get the introduction of associated commands with the roles. I know Trusted Can Kick only because I've seen a trusted use that command 

However if I happened to be in lobby where T-Mods/Mods were there to handle the issue.  I would have no idea that Trusted could kick.

All of this is covered in staff training.  Staff are continually talking to each other on the server through the admin chat.  When working with new staff, we encourage the most senior ranking staff member on the server to coordinate who is doing what.  As an example, if there are ghosters on, the T-Mod might watch the ghosters while asking the Trusted to handle the VC and chat.  OR, they could each watch a ghoster and both handle the VC/chat.  It depends on what's happening on the server.  When I'm on the server with other staff members, I tend to take a back seat roll letting them take charge of situations unless something really needs a firm hand. Again though, if they have access to a command, then they can use it according to the guidelines (or as a joke if all parties involved know it's a joke and no harm comes from the command usage).

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If anything. That should be all the more reason as to why in an application sense. There is clarity as to what staff actually does at a baseline level. Or perhaps more appropriate, the lengths they are able to go to beyond simply moderating the game

The baseline is enforce the guidelines, keep the server safe and fun to play on, and forward issues up the chain of command as needed.  That's really it to be honest.

*The thread to the staff guidelines 
Perhaps this is a nitpick. However. I feel as though despite the incredibly well written out step by step of how to handle numerous situations. The opening sentence of that post at a glance devalues the thread. Almost as if you were writing a paper and said 
“by the time I submit this to you there might be information that invalidates my points” 

The guidelines change based on new situations we can't predict.  Some of the guidelines were literally made due to the actions of a single individual! The guidelines have been relatively stable for the last couple of years now though.

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“admin qualifications are more about filling in what's missing from the team”

My question would be. Is the the capacity to which an admin “fills in what’s missing” completely diverse each time as each team is different? Or, is it a handful of different things that different admins will cycle into as time goes on. 

This also doesn’t take into account the aforementioned that visibly on the surface admins roles are only slightly extended than their mod friends. I believe that there is a lot of unsung work that is normal for admins but simply is not highlighted.

Essentially what I’m saying is. Though that could definitely be true. I find it hard to believe the extent for Admin duties is something so wide of scope that the historical, documented contributions of past admins could not be something analyzed to create an overview of what to expect from this position. 

We don't make a lot of contributions that admins have made public because they are not something we really want to talk about.  For past PH admins, we could literally say "Thank you for protecting the community from people spamming CP on the server, in your DMs, in discord, etc."  Yes, that has happened and most likely will continue to happen as long as sick fucks exist in this world.  Admins field a lot of bullshit from trolls as well.  "Why can't I say n***** on the server reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" complaints happen a lot more often than you think.  We handle content updates (when Dink has time to put them on the server), update shop contents (I'm about to release about 40 new items I made in the points shop), deal with ban/unban requests, and deal with other community issues that we can't discuss in public.

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Thanks for your questions! Feel free to reach out on discord as well.