PR review (Elliot-style)

A review built on the lenses Elliot Braem applies most in NEARBuilders and MultiAgency PRs. His review is a subtraction pass, not a bug hunt: nearly every comment removes, reverts, or replaces something ("Remove this", "Revert", "Don't need this method", "use the existing X", "Just always Y"). The PR he wants is the smallest one that fits the framework and uses what already exists. Real comments backing each lens are in EXAMPLES.md. Those are his words from other PRs: use them for tone, and speak to this PR's author about this PR only.

Steps