Talk:Mark Douglas Olson

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Mark Douglas Olson article.
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[edit] Clarify

Original editor needs to clarify:

"Olson has denied he abused his aides, although he attended two counseling sessions with Rep. Steve Sviggum, the Republican leader in the House."

1. The sentence is ambiguous with respect to the counseling. Did he attend with Sviggum, or was he counseled by Sviggum? Is Sviggum a counselor?

2. The sentence is at odds with the SC Citizen story: "Sviggum... recommended Olson receive counseling," and "Olson admits he was asked to meet with an employee relations counselor..."--Mr Grant 17:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

These newspaper clippings from 1997 should answer your questions[1]Avidor 02:06, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
Very salutary. Why don't you go ahead and rewrite the article to remove that ambiguity?--Mr Grant 02:34, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
I think someone else should edit this article from now on... I've been accused of "bias" and this article may be scrapped as a result[2]... Good luck...Avidor 02:54, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Conflict of Interest

Obvious COI for editor Mark Swanson (Swanny123).

Minnesota Republican 6th Congressional District Chair, Mark Swanson (Swanny123) is editing the page for his friend Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake) who is awaiting trial in July for domestic assault. Mark Swanson was once Rep. Mark Olson's campaign manager. Swanson is defending his edits on the comment section of the MN Publius blog [[3]]Avidor 16:12, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

While user Avidor claims a COI for me, he continues to ignore the same policy for himself. He is trying to accuse me while unable to defend his own edits or show any conflict. His action to edit this entry since then should be reverted (or the entire article should be deleted) due to his COI. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.38.99.19 (talk • contribs) 20:00, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
Mark Swanson has not read the guidlines on COI. As a high-ranking official in the Republican Party in Minnesota, he belongs to the same organization that endorsed Rep. Mark Olson only a year ago for election. Swanson managed one of Rep. Mark Olson's campaigns and is a personal friend of Rep. Mark Olson. The Wikipedia guidelines make a special note that friends and colleagues of persons awaiting trial should avoid editing those persons' biographies.
As for me, I have admitted a bias, but I do not have a conflict of interest since I am not a part of any organization or business that deals with Rep. Mark Olson. Simply having an opinion does not constitute a COI. Avidor 21:52, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
Being a volunteer on a campaign should not be per se a COI, but being an employee would be. This article has been listed on the COI noticeboard. Bearian 00:55, 12 June 2007 (UTC) Link here: Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard. Bearian 00:56, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
See the Conflict of interest noticeboard entry for response(s). 13:49, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article clean up; POV review

I've made some edits to clean up the article - consistency in citation format, etc. I've made one POV edit - changed the word "ousted" to "suspended". Though the headline of the news article reads "ousted", headlines are meant to draw attention and title are often not neutral. The text of various news articles describes the action of the caucus as a "suspension", which is a more neutral term. The allegations regarding incident(s) in 1997 needs context. Was this brought out in the news in 1997, or did someone bring it up when the arrest occurred? — ERcheck (talk) 13:49, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Zimmermann note

The citation provided does not say that Zimmerman and Olson worked together to write the legislation. There seems to be an effort here to associate Olson and Zimmerman — though they both favored PRT and have spoken to each other, the implication is that there is a strong relationship between the two. Same reference is in the Zimmermann article and is not an accurate representation of the citation. — ERcheck (talk) 00:41, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

The MPR story's only mention of Zimmerman is:
“ Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows ”

. The article itself only says Zimmeamran is a supporter. — ERcheck (talk) 00:59, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

What is the purpose here of trying to establish a relationship to Zimmermann? Seems like this is violating WP:NOT a soapbox. — ERcheck (talk) 00:59, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Zimmermann "lobbied" for PRT [4] So did Olson. If you Google newstories from that period (2003-2004), Zimmermann and Olson are the most often mentioned politicians. That's what makes it notable.Avidor 01:08, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Notable supporters of PRT have a place in the PRT article. — ERcheck (talk) 00:13, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
I don't think any of the politicians from Minneapolis would be considered "notable" for their support of PRT. They are only notable by virtue of the anti-PRT campaign that has highlighted their involvement. There may be dozens of politicians who've supported PRT at other times and places, many of whom are likely more notable than any of the Minnesota 3. ATren 00:27, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
"a local environmentalist City Councilmember Dean Zimmermann is pushing PRT in Minneapolis..... The councilmember hopes to see more state support of Taxi 2000’s PRT design, because, he says, there is the potential for a new industry to begin in Minneapolis and because he believes it is the role of the state to attract private investors in that potential. Zimmermann has teamed up with Republican State Representative Mark Olson, who has historically opposed other forms of mass transit like light rail and commuter rail, to promote PRT. [5] I think teh words "teamed up" is enough to convince anyone that they were a teamAvidor 01:30, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Again - Avidor: please do not add this information without consensus. I question the reliablitiy of Pulse as a source. As per the COIN report, two editors have been requested to stop editing this page and to discuss their suggestions for edits on this talk page. — ERcheck (talk) 00:10, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Why isn't the Pulse article reliable?Avidor 02:42, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Olson case outcome

Split verdict. Due to the recent attempt to bring me into the COI controversy, to be on the safe side I am merely noting this news here for the information of other editors.--Mr Grant 21:28, 7 August 2007 (UTC)