Not sure what you make of it, but that term, on the face of it, in my understanding in no way has a negative connotation as you seem to attribute to it. Many projects are run that way, with a community, but with one person, or a few, ultimately gating certain aspects of the project. Just think of Linux Torvalds’ role with the Linux kernel. Or @mlichvar and chronyd.
And I am not the first one to use that term in the context of this project. Where was your objection then?