Prolonging this charade goes against my better judgement- but P&B you are a good one at dangling the damned carrot, I'll give you that.
Simply put, I find it difficult to comprehend your attitude that your pilots (whom I presume you interviewed before employing them) are perceived by you as so dumb that they have to ask you first so that they can get their facts straight before you give the OK for them to carry out their legal responsibilities. Are you a one man band or what?
It is clear from the tone of your posts that you vet any entries that have been considered worthy of MR entry because you are scared stiff that someone is going to cost you money.
Maintenance means money. Forget flight safety chum - money is the bottom line in your organisation. I could be wrong of course, but believe me that is the way it comes across in your posts.
It seems incredible to any reader of these pages that you have so little faith or trust in the professional judgement of your staff that you do not allow them to enter a defect without referring to you first. And does it matter a damn if the defect is "trivial" by your standards? Defects do not necessarily ground the aircraft - but they sure as hell warn the next pilot to fly the aircraft that he needs to be aware of a potential problem.
Having been in the airline industry for many years, I can assure you that airline captains are not required (nor would they accept professionally or industrially) to first ask their chief pilot to vet any entry in the maintenance log in case it was not a REAL defect - and only the wise chief pilot could decide that.
Why should a GA pilot be any different? Certainly the military did not require you to ask permission of the CO before writing up a snag - at least not in all the squadrons that I served in.
I suggest you would do well to lighten up a bit and give your long suffering employees a break from your wisdom!
If you disagree with their intention to enter a defect then what happens if they go ahead anyway because they feel it is their responsibility? Do you sack 'em and hire a more cooperative chappie?