Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Valencia National Bank Praises, Fires President : Finance: After lauding Robert Manley’s work, the board ousts him to bring in a ‘more responsive’ leader, a member says.

Valencia National Bank trustees this week praised founding President Robert Manley for helping the institution get off the ground, expand to a second and third branch and make a profit during the past seven years. Then, they fired him.

Board chairman Lou Garasi on Thursday confirmed that Manley was terminated during a special meeting of the board of directors Wednesday. He said the board had been concerned about Manley’s management for the last two years.

But Garasi declined to give a specific reason for the termination beyond his statement that Manley has not been responsive to the bank’s shareholders and customers.

“It’s not our intention to criticize Mr. Manley at this point,” Garasi said.

The board wants a new president “more responsive to the needs of the community,” said board member Dick Keysor.

Directors will seek an individual who is conservative and will help the bank continue growing, Garasi said, acknowledging that Manley had those qualities.

Manley, 51, is on vacation out of state and could not be reached for comment.

Garasi, who is filling in until a new president is hired, was unsure if Manley had received news of his firing.

Bank officials declined to say if he will receive a severance package.

“Historically, I think something like that has occurred,” Garasi said.

The board last week asked Manley to submit his resignation and gave him a deadline of last weekend, but Manley failed to do so.

Before he left the state, Manley said that his ouster came after he tried to collect outstanding loan payments from current and former board members. He said Valencia National Bank lost “several hundred thousand dollars” in outstanding loans to directors and legal fees spent trying to recover the loans.

Net income at the bank dropped from about $512,000 in 1990 to about $29,500 in 1993, according to bank reports. Much of the decline is attributed to the recession, and the 1993 figure includes a $200,000 loss from a loan default by an unidentified former board member.

Four board members resigned during a one-month period last summer, including at least two who had defaulted on loans from the bank.

Valencia National Bank has less than $800,000 in loans now out to current directors--about 2% of all of its loans, according to Donald Engdahl, senior vice president.

Bank officials Thursday sought to reassure the public that the Santa Clarita Valley’s only locally based bank is financially secure.

“We have a very good bank. We have a very strong financial position,” said Garasi, calling the bank “like Fort Knox.”

There has been no drop in business at the bank, according to James Perkin, its chief financial officer.

“There’s been lots of inquiries about what is happening, but they’re not pulling deposits,” Perkins said.