Keneley Succeeds Watz as President of Bank

Charles E. Keneley has been hired as president of the Laguna Bank in Laguna Beach. The bank’s former president, John B. Watz, has moved on to the larger Bank of Orange County in Fountain Valley as senior vice president and senior credit officer.

Watz, 47, had been president of the 4-year-old Laguna Bank for 3 1/2 years, during which time the bank grew from $17 million in assets to more than $29 million. It was a “pretty solid bank” by the time he left last month, he said.

While acknowledging that there were several reasons for his departure, Watz would say only that there is “a lot of potential” at 6-year-old Bank of Orange County and in his new position there. Top officials of Laguna Bank could not be reached for comment.

But Gerry Findley, a Brea bank consultant, said Watz and Laguna Bank directors had disagreed over how well the bank was doing and what the future would bring. Watz’s departure was by “mutual agreement,” Findley said.

Keneley, 37, started his new job on March 10. He had been president and chief executive officer of First Arroyo Bank in South Pasadena and had worked at Wells Fargo Bank and Lincoln Savings & Loan Assn.