Banking On Character

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"It's really flattened the playing field. We have about as strong a position in small, medium and corporate cash management as anyone."

Mechanics has a robust retail, consumer operation, and has built a very conservative loan portfolio. "We have built a very strong capital base, our capital-to-liability ratios are at the top of the industry, one of the strongest in California. In the loan portfolio of  $400 million -- $250 million is real estate and the other $150 million both private banking (individual borrowers) and small and medium corporate loans. If there's a big demand for loans, we can expand our balance sheet significantly and still be considered a very well-capitalized bank.

"That's important if you're going through cycles like we are now in the real estate," Buster says.

Speaking of real estate, how long does he see this particular thick patch lasting? "At least two years," he replies, and then feels compelled to add, "We don't reach for the incremental, radical deal just to make money. So, we don't get problem loans anywhere like our competitors. Take subprime right now: 100 percent loan for a house that goes to 12.5 percent after a year, no money down and no docs (no checking on documents such as W-2 forms). 

For the last five years, all these institutions made a fortune, how much did we make? Zero. We didn't do it because it was wrong. We've been around 100 years and we want to be around 100 more." 

River City Bank

Jeanne Reaves leads the way wearing a navy-blue wool suit. A big brooch. The office has dark wood and traditional furniture. A formal office for a formal lady. Her bank is headquartered in a glass-and-steel midrise, with prominent signage, in Natomas.

Her office is glass walled and within sight of everyone passing through the lobby, or entering the main branch which is on the opposite side of the lobby from her offices. Jeanne Reaves is always on display and she wears it well. Woman. CEO. Head of a publicly traded corporation, RCB Corp. (RCBC, Nasdaq pink sheets). Companies on the pink sheets system do not need to meet minimum requirements or file with the SEC.

No one discounts her success in taking River City Bank to new heights. The big question: Has she been here too long? Reaves took over in 1993, and while the bank has done well enough to expand, it has not exploded out of the Sacramento region.

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