In my experience (years) of administrating/owning Minecraft servers...offering to moderate, essentially asking for Mod, is terrible etiquette and doesn't produce good Mods. And anyone who takes up Mods like that is generally going to find they get a sub-par staff team. Now I'm sure some people who offer to moderate have good intentions, but it isn't generally a good policy.
Yes. The worst types of server are those where you can pay for staff...

I understand your point. I have owned Minecraft servers for over 2 years (I think) now, so I definitely understand your point.