MECHANICS BANK KEY EXECUTIVES

Steven K. Buster, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Mechanics Bank

Steven K. Buster joined The Mechanics Bank as president and chief executive officer on July 1, 2004, bringing over 25 years of domestic and international banking experience.

Previously, he was a managing director of U.S. Trust Company, responsible for all Western United States banking activities. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, Mr. Buster served as chief operating officer for the District Attorney, County of Los Angeles.

Prior to that, Mr. Buster served as Group Manager for commercial banking at Standard Chartered Bank, where he was based in Singapore for 5 years, directing the activities of 700 banking officers and 3,000 total staff throughout Asia Pacific. He also served in numerous capacities with First Interstate Bank including Chief Credit Officer, real estate, corporate banking and as General Manager in London prior to the sale of the wholesale bank of Standard Chartered.
Mr. Buster began his banking career in 1973 with First Interstate Bank, after receiving his B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Southern California.
Mr. Buster currently serves as president of California Independent Bankers (CIB), a not-for-profit trade association politically active in Sacramento and Washington D.C. on behalf of more than 160 California community banks. CIB is the California affiliate of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which has over 5,000 independent bank members nationwide.

Edward M. Downer, III, Chairman of the Board

E. M. “Eddie” Downer, III, has served as Chairman of the Board for The Mechanics Bank since 1981, the third generation of his family to hold the title. Previously, he was president of the bank.

Mr. Downer attended Stanford University from 1952 to 1958, and also attended Pacific Coast Banking School from 1964 to 1966. His extensive professional and civic affiliations, too numerous to list in total, include: serving on the Board of Regents of John F. Kennedy University, and on the advisory board of the St. Mary’s School of Economics & Business Administration, serving as a board member and former chairman of the Western States Bankcard Association and as a board member of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership, serving as a committee member of the Contra Costa Business Leaders Alliance, and on the boards of the Richmond Museum Endowment Fund and the Richmond Art Center Endowment Fund. He also is a former president and board member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the current chairman of Opportunity West, a Richmond based non-profit organization.

Mr. Downer resides in Martinez, California with his wife, Yoshimi. He has three adult sons, E. Michael, Douglas and Robert Downer.

Dianne D. Felton, Vice Chairman of the Board

Dianne Daiss Felton has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Mechanics Bank (“TMB”) since 2002. She currently is Chair of the Audit Committee and now sits on the Board’s Loan Committee, Asset and Liability Committee and Compensation and Governance Committee. A 4th generation member of the founding family, one of her primary responsibilities is to serve as the director responsible for education of the Board. She led the effort culminating in the creation of the Family Council of the Bank, a key purpose of which is to ensure the smooth transition of family leadership from one generation to the next.

After working on the executive financial counseling team that founded the Private Banking Division of the Bank of America, Ms. Felton joined The Mechanics Bank board in 1981 and immediately was appointed chair of the Audit Committee. The same year, she founded an auto leasing company, serving as its chief operating officer for over a decade. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978 with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics. Ms. Felton has also completed the Directors College program offered by Stanford University’s School of Law, and the Family Business Management program offered by Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business and Management.

In addition to her TMB duties, Ms. Felton acted as a founder, director and corporate secretary of the Glenbrook Club at Lake Tahoe. Her many community activities include serving on the community advisory board of the Junior League of the East Bay, in various parent club board positions at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School, Wagner Ranch Elementary School and Miramonte High School (all public schools in Orinda, California), on the Board of Councilors of the Save The Redwoods League, and in various board positions for St. Luke’s Hospital Jr. Auxiliary. She and her family are residents of Orinda, California.

William J. Schwerin, Executive Vice President

William J. Schwerin is the senior lending officer supervising all lending activities. He joined The Mechanics Bank in 1971 and has served as a branch office manager, commercial loan officer and assistant to the CEO. More recently, he chaired the bank’s loan and credit policy committees, and headed the credit administration department.

He also serves as Corporate Secretary of the Bank and of Macdonald Auxiliary Corporation, is CEO of The Mechanics Bank Community Development Corporation, is a member of the bank senior management committee, and chairs the employee pension and profit sharing committee and the Board of Director’s loan committee.

Mr. Schwerin is a graduate of Stanford University and served in the U.S. Army. He received an Executive Award from the Graduate School of Credit & Financial Management from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and also has taken executive courses at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Mr. Schwerin is a board member of The West Contra Costa Community Development Center and of the Contra Costa College Foundation. He and his wife are residents of Pinole, California.

Steven I Barlow, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Steve Barlow returned to The Mechanics Bank in 1992 as Senior Vice President, Retail Banking, and has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 1994. He oversees retail banking, electronic banking, information technology, human resources, operations, legal and compliance services, marketing, product management, facilities and security.

Mr. Barlow began his career at The Mechanics Bank 34 years ago and left in 1975 to join the Napa Valley Bank, where he rose through the ranks to become a Vice President and Manager. He was appointed President and CEO in 1984, leading three acquisitions and helping the bank and its affiliates become market leaders in all their locations.

A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Economics and Political Science, he also attended Advanced Management College at Stanford. His many professional affiliations include memberships in the Corporate Executive Board, Council on Financial Competition, the California Bankers Association Federal Government Relations Committee, TEC Worldwide, Inc., Group #926, and serving as a director and treasurer of the West Contra Costa County Council of Industries. He is a former trustee of Queen of the Valley Hospital Foundation, former director of the Napa Valley Unified Education Foundation, past president of the Napa/City County Library Foundation and former director of the Community Bankers of Northern California.

Kirsten E. Weisser, Executive Vice President, Wealth Management

Kirsten E. Weisser joined Mechanics Bank in 2005, and serves as Executive Vice President of the Wealth Management Group, which includes private banking, investment management, trust and estate services, and retail brokerage.

A fourth generation Berkeley native and Cal graduate, she began her banking career in 1982 with Crocker National Bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986. After the acquisition, she remained with Wells Fargo until 1997, when she joined U.S. Trust Company, where she served as the senior fiduciary officer in Northern California, responsible for managing the trust and estate business, the post she held until joining Mechanics Bank.

Weisser serves on the Council of Friends for the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, and on the board of the Oakland Community Pools Project, which provides recreation and leadership opportunities for youth in the West Oakland and East Oakland communities. She is also a member of the professional advisory committees of the San Francisco Ballet and the East Bay Community Foundation. She and her family are residents of Oakland.

Cort O'Haver, Executive Vice President, Manager of Corporate Banking

Veteran banker and commercial lending strategist Cort O’Haver has joined The Mechanics Bank as Executive Vice President and manager of the Corporate Banking Division in 2006. He was previously a senior vice president of U.S. Bancorp, and regional manager of that bank’s Northwest and Northern California Real Estate Banking group, overseeing a $3.3 billion portfolio.

O’Haver has spent his entire banking career serving Northern California, often competing directly against Mechanics Bank. Before joining U.S. Bancorp, he spent almost ten years with Sanwa Bank in San Francisco, where he was vice president and Northern California Regional Manager of the Real Estate Industries Group.

A Chicago-area native, Cort has spent most of his adult life in the Bay Area, where he graduated from San Ramon High School and then attended California State University where he graduated with BA’s in English and Business Administration in 1985 and from Pacific Coast Banking School, with honors, in 1995.

O’Haver’s personal interests include music, painting and skiing. He and his wife Rachael and their two children, Amanda and Jack will be residing in the East Bay.

Last Updated 07/24/2008

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