I think this is just Rob's style which hasn't changed from the beginning (not the authoritarian aspect, just the forum post describing proposed changes). In the old days, all we had was the cryptocurrencytalk forum, there were no other platforms for gridcoin discussion. It was also not a terrible way to do things either since all discussion was centralized there.
The best thing to do would be to make a forum post there and state advantages of some of the alternatives (graphene code base etc.). I think he would be willing to listen if a significant portion of the community is in support of these ideas. I don't speak for him however.
@donkeykong9000, I've been around a while and also read way back on Rob's post in 'the olden days' in cryptocurrencytalk and his posts are pretty much the same format when he wants something ..
I do wish he would see that we, as a community, are now on more communication areas than before.