Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : President of Valencia National Bank Is Asked for Resignation : Finance: Robert Manley says he is being forced out because he has taken a hard line on collecting on loans owed by board members.

In a surprise move, the president of the Santa Clarita Valley’s only local bank since its founding seven years ago has been asked to resign.

Robert Manley, one of the founders of Valencia National Bank, was unanimously asked to step down Tuesday by the institution’s board of directors, who cited concerns about his management abilities.

However, Manley attributed his ouster to “a fairly hard course” he had taken over the collection of loans by the bank to past and present board members.

“I’m telling the people who sign my paycheck they’ve got to belly up to the bar and pay the piper,” he said.

Board members said the loans have nothing to do with their request for Manley’s resignation. The board first considered asking Manley to resign more than two years ago, said Louis Garasi, chairman of the bank’s board.

Garasi said Manley has done nothing illegal or immoral, but that the bank’s earnings have declined during the past three years.

“We don’t have confidence in Mr. Manley to manage the bank in the future,” Garasi said.

If Manley chooses not to resign, “he will be terminated,” Garasi said. He declined to say what deadline the board has set for a reply to its request.

Manley said he has not decided if he will resign, stating he plans to talk with an attorney first and is also leaving town for a week-and-a-half vacation.

The bank remains in sound financial shape, despite the recent losses, according to both Manley and Garasi.

Bank employees said they had no knowledge of the board’s intentions until after Tuesday’s meeting.

“It was a complete surprise to me,” said James Perkins, the bank’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. “I attend the board meetings, but I am excused from the (closed session) personnel matters discussed by the board.”

The bank opened in October, 1987, earning a net income of $500,965 in 1989 and $511,982 in 1990, Perkins said. Net income dropped to $379,122 in 1991, $310,458 in 1992 and $29,454 in 1993--a sharp drop that Perkins attributed to the recession and the cost of opening two new branches.

Manley said the outstanding loans and legal costs of trying to collect them totaled “several hundred thousand dollars,” which is why the bank’s earnings dropped so dramatically in 1993.

“Had it not been for that, it would have been a pretty decent year,” he said.

Even without the loans, the bank would have posted lower earnings in 1993, Garasi said.

A bank can lend money to its board members as long as preferential treatment is not given, Manley said. He said some board members were having problems paying back their loans.

“It took considerable effort on my part to force the directors to step up and pay attention to this serious problem,” he said.

Some of the loans have been paid back, but others remain outstanding, Manley said.

He declined to discuss details of the loans in question, but said they played a role in the resignation of four board members who stepped down within a month of each other last year.

He said former board member Kathy Wiener resigned last June because of problems with her loan. She and her husband, Harold, were also facing allegations of embezzling $2.8 million from trust accounts at their company, Country Oaks Escrow Inc., which the state seized last June 4.

Other board members who resigned included Glen Rollins, Kent Fortin and Tony Matthess. Attempts to reach them Thursday were unsuccessful.

Garasi acknowledged the resignations were “due to various concerns about the loans,” but declined further comment about them.

Current board members have “hardly any loans whatsoever at the bank,” Garasi said. Besides Garasi, board members include Gene Burke, Walt Fischer, Robert Nehabit, Chuck Albrecq and Joseph McKeon, brother of Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita).