Board Members

MAX A. BRIGGS

MAX A. BRIGGS CFP® the chairman of our board of directors is co-founder and President/CEO of FLC Capital Advisors, a Palm Desert-based wealth management firm supervising assets of more than $200 million.  Mr. Briggs is licensed to sell securities in California, Florida, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  He possesses Series 24, 7, 63 and 65 securities licenses and is an insurance broker licensed in California, Florida, New York, and Washington.  He is also a licensed California real estate broker.  Mr. Briggs holds degrees in Business Administration and Finance from Stetson University.   He is a board member and committee chair of Marywood Palm Valley School and active in various youth programs.

MATHEW S. COSTELLO

MATHEW S. COSTELLO is a co-owner of Desert Empire Insurance Services, Inc. in Palm Desert.  Mr. Costello has been an insurance agent serving the Palm Springs-Palm Desert area since 1985.  Mr. Costello specializes in placing insurance on commercial properties.  Mr. Costello graduated from Palm Springs High School, attended College of the Desert in Palm Desert, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from California State University, Los Angeles.  Mr. Costello holds an insurance license from the State of California.

MICHAEL A. CRISTE

MICHAEL A. CRISTE was, for 12 years, a partner in the Palm Desert law firm of Criste, Pippin & Golds, LLP.  Mr. Criste’s practice focused on real estate and business transactions, bankruptcy and business reorganizations.  Mr. Criste is a member of the California Bar Association.  Mr. Criste graduated with honors from the University of Maryland, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.  Mr. Criste also earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.  Mr. Criste holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the Dickinson School of Law of Pennsylvania State University.  Mr. Criste was a member of the U.S. Army and is a veteran of the Vietnam War.

RICHARD D. FOSS

RICHARD D. FOSS is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).  Mr. Foss was president of the CPA firm of Foss Accountancy Corporation, whose predecessor was founded by his grandfather in 1913, located in El Centro, California, for over 42 years.  Mr. Foss merged his firm into Hutchinson and Bloodgood, CPAs and Consultants during 2005 and remains on their staff as a tax manager.  Mr. Foss was awarded life member in California Society of Certified Public Accountants in recognition of his 40 years of membership.  Mr. Foss was a director and founder of Valley Independent Bank and VIB Corp which was headquartered in El Centro.  He was a board member from 1980 until the sale of VIB Corp in 2002.  Mr. Foss served as the chairman of the board of directors since 1983 and was a member of the loan, executive and compensation committees.  Mr. Foss was a director and chairman of the audit committee of Valley Independent Bank and Rabobank, N.A. after the sale of VIB Corp in 2002 until his retirement in October, 2005.  Mr. Foss was a member and past director of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce and a member and past president of the El Centro Rotary Club.  He was a member, past president and district governor of the El Centro Active 20-30 Club.  He was an organizing member of the Boy and Girls Club of El Centro.  He served on the fund raising committee for the expansion of the El Centro Regional Medical Center.  He also served on the advisory committee of the Imperial Valley Campus of San Diego State University.  Mr. Foss is a third generation resident of the Imperial Valley, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University.

WAYNE L. HARVEY, CPA

WAYNE L. HARVEY is a retired Certified Public Accountant (CPA).  Mr. Harvey was associated with the CPA firm of Harvey and Parmelee (formerly Darling, Wold and Agee), located in Whittier, California, for over 40 years, from 1958 to 1998.  Mr. Harvey was the Managing Partner of the Harvey and Parmelee firm from 1987 until his retirement in 1998.  Mr. Harvey was a director of Quaker City Bank (formerly Quaker City Federal Savings and Loan Association) and Quaker City Bancorp.  He was a board member from January 1981 until the sale of Quaker City Bank in August 2004.  Mr. Harvey served as the Chairman of the audit committee and as a member of the compensation and nominating and governance committees.  Mr. Harvey is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CALCPA).  He has been awarded life membership in both organizations in recognition of his 40 years membership in each.  He is a past director of the CALCPA state board of directors and a past member of the Accounting Education and Careers and the Taxation Committees. He also chaired the taxation committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of that organization.  Mr. Harvey currently serves on the board of trustees of Whittier College and has served as a member of the executive committee. He is a former chair of  the audit committee and has served on the finance, faculty salary parity and 2004 bond refinance committees.  During his retirement he has served as a board member of the Family YMCA of the Desert, the Palms to Pines Rotary Foundation, the Sterling Cove Homeowners Association and the Desert Bicycle Club.  Mr. Harvey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Whittier College and a Masters of Business Administration with a specialization in Taxation from Golden Gate University.

MICHAEL SHEPHERD

MICHAEL R. SHEPHERD serves as president and chief executive officer of The Shepherd Group, a public relations firm with offices in Palm Desert and Newport Beach.  Mr. Shepherd, who founded the firm in 1992, has spent 27 years advising corporate clients on marketing communications strategy and implementation.  The Palm Desert resident is a former Chairman of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, as well as a member of the board of directors for the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce.  His current community service includes serving on the board for the Boy Scouts of America Sunrise Council, as well as the Lincoln Club of the Coachella Valley.   Mr. Shepherd graduated from The University of Washington with a Business degree, and has held adjunct faculty member positions at the University of Washington Extension School and Seattle University. 

STANLEY B. SKLAR

STANLEY B. SKLAR is a retired executive formerly with a sunglass manufacturing company.  Mr. Sklar was a partner for 19 years in Opti-Ray, Inc., a sunglass manufacturing company, from 1966 to 1985.  The company was sold in 1985, and Mr. Sklar continued as co-chief executive of the company until 1994.  Mr. Sklar was also the past president of the Sunglass Association of America, Inc.  Mr. Sklar moved to the Coachella Valley upon his retirement in 1994.  He currently serves on the board of directors of the Lincoln Club of the Coachella Valley and ACT for Multiple Sclerosis, and currently serves on the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, Dumfries, VA and the Ann Liguori Cancer Foundation, Westhampton, NY.  Mr. Sklar attended Tulane University and served four years of active duty and one year of active reserves in the U.S. Marine Corps.

TONY J. SWARTZ

TONY J. SWARTZ’s four-decade-long career has been primarily in community banking, in California, Arizona and Alaska. During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Mr. Swartz served as the Chief Operating Officer for Valley Independent Bank (later acquired by Rabobank). Valley Independent Bank was headquartered in El Centro, Imperial County, California and this experience is significant as Desert Commercial Bank has a major branch in El Centro.  Most recently, Mr. Swartz served as President and CEO of a de novo bank, Fresno First Bank. Mr. Swartz also served as a founding director for Fresno First Bank.  Earlier, Mr. Swartz was CEO of Frontier State Bank, a six-branch institution headquartered in Show Low, Arizona.   During his five-year tenure, Frontier State Bank’s asset base nearly doubled. Toward the end of his tenure in 2003, Frontier State Bank was sold to a larger regional banking institution, Zions Bank.