NEIGHBORS

The advertising agency Lawrence, Mayo & Ponder of Newport Beach took

first place in a recent Literacy in Media Awards competition for a public

service announcement campaign that was developed for READ California, a

statewide literacy campaign run for Gov. Gray Davis by the secretary of

education. . . . The McKay Family Trust of Newport Beach recently bought

an 11-unit apartment complex in San Clemente for $950,000 from Morgan

Skenderian Investment Real Estate Group. Grant Hahn and Rick Applebaum

represented the firm’s Newport Beach office in the transaction. . . .

Brian M. Riley has been appointed to succeed founding chief executive

J.B. Crowell of PriVest Bank in Costa Mesa. Riley joined the bank in

September as president and will remain chairman of the board of

directors. PriVest Bank, organized in 1998, is the only Orange

County-based bank offering private banking and wealth-management

services. . . . Fred M. Whitaker has joined the law firm of Cummins &

White LLP as a partner in the Newport Beach office. Whitaker was the

former general counsel and northwest chief operating officer for Southern

California Oil Companies in Orange.

* NEIGHBORS spotlights achievements in the community. Submit

noteworthy information to Stefanie Frith by fax at (949) 646-4170 or by

e-mail too7 stefanie.frith@latimes.comf7 .