Albert Olson Impulsively Resigns His Position as MVCC Chair

Citing what he deemed a vote of no-confidence, Mar Vista Community Council Chairman Albert Olson stated he was resigning both his position as chairman and his position on the Mar Vista Community Council during the monthly Board of Directors meeting Tuesday night.

Following his statement, Olson stood up and walked out of the Mar Vista Recreation Center, much to the shock of the 40 or so community members in the room and the remaining council members.

Vice Chair Sharon Commins quickly jumped in to temporarily fill Olson's seat and continue with the evening's agenda.

Olson's move came following a vote by the board to appoint a new at-large member to fill a vacant position.  After candidate statements were made by Yvette Molinaro, Vida Ash, Michael Millman, Shane Popp, Susan Klos (absent) and Chelsea McFarland, the board was instructed to vote.

As per the bylaws, Olson nominated a candidate -  Yvette Molinaro -  to the post. However, only seven of the 10 council members present voted for Molinaro, with three opposing. Eight votes are required to seat a  new member.

Olson then nominated Michael Millman who only received five votes. Olson then stated he would only issue one more nomination, adding he refused to "go down the [candidate] list because I think people are waiting for a specific name to be nominated." He did not state which name he was referring to.

Olson nominated Molinaro yet again and in the second vote only six council members voted for Molinaro.

At that point Olson said he felt "this was a vote of no confidence and I resign both my position and from the board."

As he stood up and walked out of the room board member Geoffrey Forgione said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Olson replied, "Yes."

The remaining board members decided to table the vote for a new member until next month's meeting.

Editor's note: As of this posting the MVCC Board of Directors meeting was still in session. Patch will follow up on this story in greater detail on Wednesday.