Well, I would have thought that being the main developer for Essentials would've carried some weight. I think it's just a bureaucracy problem at the moment, though.
More effects are definitely a good thing. The moves/abilities/items have been added already, but if they don't have effects then that's worse than if they weren't included. We'll also need some kind of list showing which items have/don't have effects (both items that are in Essentials and those that aren't, e.g. Devon Scope). We'd have to draw the line somewhere, though; I really don't fancy having a TM Case or Apricorn Box, because they only exist to prevent trading those items.
Your contributions are much appreciated.