Bank of Newport Finally Finds New President--a Competitor’s : Thrifts: After 10-month search, veteran O.C. banker David T. Blankenhorn is lured away from Commerce Center Bank post.

Troubled Bank of Newport, after searching 10 months for a president, has lured veteran Orange County banker David T. Blankenhorn from a competitor.

Blankenhorn, who is president of Commercial Center Bank in Santa Ana, will join Bank of Newport next Wednesday as president and chief executive. He fills a position vacated last March when Ronald L. Rodgers, the bank’s founding president, resigned under pressure.

“I’ve known the bank a long time. It’s a good franchise,” Blankenhorn said. “This is a good opportunity for me. I like it where I’ve been, but the (Commercial Center) bank’s not owned locally and is for sale. I want to be with a locally owned bank, hopefully in a long-term situation.”

Commercial Center is owned by the bankrupt estate of Canadian Commercial Bank in Edmonton, Canada, an institution whose assets are being liquidated by the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse-Canada in Toronto. Commercial Center, which with nearly $400 million in assets is Orange County’s largest community bank, is the last major holding that remains to be sold.

“The timing is not the best for us,” Garth MacGirr, the Price Waterhouse partner overseeing Commercial Center, said of Blankenhorn’s departure. “But this was an opportunity for David that he couldn’t pass up.

“We’re sorry to lose him. He’s a good man. He knows Orange County particularly well.”

Blankenhorn, 54, of Newport Beach has been president or chief executive at four county banks since 1980. He cultivated a reputation as a turn-around specialist during stints at Heritage Bank in Anaheim and American Interstate Bank in Newport Beach. Both banks eventually failed, however.

He also was vice chairman and chief executive of CommerceBank in Newport Beach from 1980 to 1983 and was president of Orange City Bank, which since has been sold.

Bank of Newport has had problem commercial real estate loans dating back to the county’s last recession during the early 1980s. Its real estate woes have only grown worse during the current long-running economic slump.

In August, 1992, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a wake-up call to directors in the form of a cease-and-desist order, the agency’s most severe directive. Regulators said directors were not paying enough attention to what management was doing.

Rodgers resigned in March as directors became increasingly uncomfortable about the bank’s continued losses and the continued criticism from federal regulators. For 1992 the bank lost $4.8 million--the most among Orange County banks. Rodgers left just before the bank reported a loss of $530,000 more for the first quarter last year. A profitable second quarter reduced the six-month loss to $287,000.

Meantime, four directors, led by Chairman E.O. Rodeffer, agreed to pump $2.8 million into the bank to shore up its capital, the final cushion against losses.

Close Up: David T. Blankenhorn

Age: 54.

Residence: Newport Beach.

New Position: President and chief executive, Bank of Newport

Previous Positions: President, Commercial Center Bank, Santa Ana, 1990-94; president, American Interstate Bank, Newport Beach, 1987-90; acquisitions executive, First Interstate Bank, Orange County, 1986-87; president, Orange City Bank, 1984-86; president, Heritage Bank, Anaheim, 1983-84; chief executive, CommerceBank, Newport Beach, 1980-83; various executive positions with Security Pacific National Bank, City National Bank and Southern California First National Bank, 1962-80.

Education: Attended Cal State Los Angeles.

Civic Contributions: Member, Boy Scouts of Orange County executive committee and board of directors; former board member, South Coast Repertory.