Vineyard National Bancorp board member resigns

     Vineyard National Bancorp, parent of Vineyard Bank, announced on Monday evening that Cynthia Harriss resigned from the Corona financial company's board of directors.

     She was one of five candidates that former CEO Norman Morales managed to get elected to the board following a proxy battle, which ended in a shareholder vote meeting earlier this month.

     The board appointed Perry Hansen, board chairman, to take Harriss's place, pending regulatory approval.

     Vineyard also said that it amended the company's bylaws on Aug. 20 and increased the number of board seats from seven to eight. To fill the added spot, it appointed interim president and CEO James LeSieur to serve as a director, pending regulatory approval.

     Federal regulators didn't approve of Morales sitting on the board.

     Vineyard fired him earlier this year, and he's been trying to regain control of the bank ever since then with the help of long-time investor Jon Salmanson.

     --matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com