It was set up without structure when decentrality suggested the channel in an Ask HN post[0]. Because of its current state no one can claim ownership and grant OP's. If someone affiliated with YC/HN emailed Freenode staff they would grant them ownership and they could then give out OP's to trusted others seeing as they probably don't have the time to moderate it. It would be great if #hackernews stayed like Hacker News and didn't evolve to #startups. Not ripping on #startups, but it would be great to have a slightly more "hardcore" and on topic alternative.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8249277