Mate Centers honestly prod me towards the uneasy side for most of them consist of newcomers (most whom don't bother viewing over the Rules or regulations of the game), illiterates, trolls, etc. Whenever I'm laying idly by in Bonfire and I see a Mate Center pop up, I immediately get in f3 mode and loom over the whole thing for I know with all this "love in the air", one or two couples will start doing something quite inappropriate. Yet, I also think the MODs cannot bluntly get rid of the Mate Centers unless they all start doing something that's against the rules but I could be wrong. Who knows.
My opinion on the matter is the Mate Centers leave me very uneasy and once one pops up, my eyes are on them for a while. I suppose it's better than having random individuals running up to Starrk and following him around trolling him or begging him constantly to be his mate, though I actually would rather deal with mate beggars than Mate Centers for a mate begger, I can just screenshot them and report if they start following me around constantly and harassing me through the chats and all. Plus I can also just block them and there they go, no longer existing to me. Mate Centers, I can't do that for, like I said, one minute everything will go fine then the next, ... You get what I mean.
I personally don't like mate centers too. I've been in one just once, but I exited quickly. The reasons of me disliking mate centers are because they cause horrible lag /as Nyota said/ and because you don't know anything for the person you are getting for a mate. It's much more interesting and it's better to get a mate from a RP.
But just because me and many others disapprove mate centers, doesn't mean they have to be ridded off. Just as we don't like them, others love mate centers, newbies for example, or illiterates /which are newbies also I think/. If the mate centers stop excisting, those new players won't be happy.
My final opinion is no. I don't think mate centers should be ridded off.