“I'm basically giving myself a permanent vacation from being BDFL”

Yikes. Python has become so hugely popular and is used for so many different use cases that I fear the ecosystem is going to really struggle to find consistency and direction without a dictator.

Maybe we'll try something like a triumvirate? As best I can tell there are basically three areas where Python is dominant: web, data science, and academia. A single leader for each of those spheres could form a council where BDFL-level decisions could be made by fiat.

Each community could then form whatever organization they felt necessary to choose who to send to the triumvirate.

As as check on the power of the triumvirate, we could have something like a "Tribune of the Plebs" - a representative elected by open election from the entire community that holds veto authority over changes approved by the triumvirate.