Most likely he is working on it. One merit for 500 good report isn't big deal for forum. I don't think new people will encourage to make report only for single merit.
Now imagine this:
-bots create 10,000 accounts
-bots start spamming "great project" with 10,000 accounts
-1000 bots start reporting the other 9000 accounts
-1000 bots turn Jr. Member and continue spamming with signature
-Mods run away screaming
My God - The Horror!!!
You mods seriously have your hands full with... lots of bot shit.
Everywhere I go its always bots nowadays. It's like there is no real efficient way to deal with it.
My simple suggestion would be to have Newbie - Jr. Member rank take more merit, like 5. With just 1, it seems like too much power and too easy to achieve.