ORANGE COUNTY

Aaron Gara has been named vice president of Fountain Valley-based Newport Corp., a manufacturer of laser components and vibration isolation equipment. Gara’s task will be to expand the company’s holographic division. Gara previously served as the company’s technical director. El Torito Restaurants Inc. of Irvine has appointed Frederick A. Lefranc executive vice president of operations. Lefranc, an El Toro resident, will be responsible for the operations of 125 restaurants. He has served as in-house promotions director, director of marketing and regional vice president.

Donald Fontaine, former senior vice president and chief financial officer of Monarch Bank in Laguna Niguel, has been named to the same post at newly formed Bank of Anaheim. Fontaine, 30, will serve as chief operations office of the 3-month-old commercial bank. His appointment rounds out Bank of Anaheim’s four-member management team headed by Gene Hobday, president and chief executive. Ralph O. Briscoe has been elected to fill a vacant seat on the board of directors at Pacific Scientific, an Anaheim manufacturer of electronics, specialized motors and aerospace products. Briscoe is president of Republic Corp. of Los Angeles, a diversified manufacturing, graphics, services and steel production company.

Pacific Savings Bank of Costa Mesa has appointed four new vice presidents. Anne Parker has been named vice president and treasurer of the finance division. Parker, a resident of San Juan Capistrano, previously served as the bank’s vice president of financial planning and analysis. Kim Ginther was appointed vice president of loan marketing in the secondary marketing division. A resident of Costa Mesa, Ginther previously was a regional director for a mortgage firm. At Pacific Savings real estate division, Steve McArthur of Irvine joins the firm as vice president. John Willard was named vice president of the La Cresta Pacifica Building subsidiary. Willard has served as project manager and controller for several southern California builders. Also, Carol Pifer, of El Toro, was named director of planning and budgeting . Pifer had formerly been vice president of corporate planning and administration at Beverly Hills Savings of Mission Viejo.

The Orange County office of Arthur Young & Company has promoted Greg Ross, John Whates, and Larry Seigel to the position of partner. Working in the audit department, Ross is in charge of the high-technology accounts. Whates specializes in international taxation matters. Seigel is responsible for the government and private sector consulting group.

Richard C. Doyle, a former Orange County newspaper editor and advertising executive, has been appointed president of The Jim Dean Organization, a diversified communications company located in Garden Grove. Doyle will direct the firm’s public relations, publishing, advertising and marketing activities.