The approval for discretionary projects would be determined, in part, by the level of expenditure. For anything in the tens of thousands of dollars, I'd say discussion on r/decred and in Matrix would be appropriate. For something in the thousands, Matrix would suffice, and for less than 1,000 USD, DCC approved contractors should probably have the latitude to make decisions if they would like. In this community, there's a predisposition to collective decision making, so that would probably be the prevailing ethos.

The process I just outlined pushes decision making towards decentralization. First, the community would initially authorize a budget. Then, in the case of a discretionary project, there would be public discussion on anything of consequence. Currently, there may be discussion, but there is some lack of clarity on process, and I think people default to asking certain people from c0 directly for approval. This would push decision making further into public channels and give more people a voice.