Family Restaurants Names Presidents of El Torito, Chi-Chi’s Divisions

Family Restaurants Inc. has named Roger K. Chamness as president of its Chi-Chi’s division and William D. Burt as president of its El Torito operations. Chamness, a 15-year restaurant industry veteran, most recently served as executive vice president of finance and administration at Family Restaurants. Chamness succeeds Jack McGregor, an executive who joined the company temporarily in late 1995 to help with an ongoing reorganization.

Burt, with 26 years of restaurant industry experience, most recently served as vice president of operations for Krystal Co., a restaurant operator based in Chattanooga, Tenn.

* John R. Loevenguth has been selected to head the new Newport Beach office of Stonefield Joephson, a Santa Monica-based accounting and consulting firm. He was previously a partner with the management consulting firm of Hankin and Co.

* Bob Roth has joined Perri Productions, a video public relations company in Newport Beach. He will be responsible for client services and media relations. Roth was manager of publicity at Disneyland for 15 years and manager of public communications for Walt Disney Attractions, West Coast, from 1991 to 1994.

* Kimberly Lee has joined the Rankin Group Ltd., an Orange advertising and public relations agency, as managing art director. She was previously principal of her own agency in Arizona.

* Norman S. Wolfe has been appointed general manager of International Compu Research Inc. in Newport Beach, a manufacturer of legal research software. Before joining the company, Wolfe was president of Bingham Wolfe Corp. His experience also includes 15 years of management positions with Hewlett Packard Co.

* William Sumner has joined ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Costa Mesa as vice president and chief information officer. Sumner was formerly senior vice president of information systems for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Before that, he was senior vice president of information systems for Macy’s South/Bullock’s division of R.H. Macy & Co. In his new position, Sumner will be responsible for overseeing ICN’s information systems and enhancing overall systems capabilities.

* C. Jay Kurtz has been elected to the board of directors of AAC Corp., an Irvine telemanagement, data management and call center management company. He succeeds Walter F. Bauer, who resigned after serving since 1989. Kurtz is founder of a consulting firm, the Kappa Group.

* Mehdi Eftekari has been appointed general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach. He had previously been hotel manager. Before that, he was food and beverage director of the Four Seasons in Los Angeles.

Robert F. Heyer has been named vice president/Western region operations for American Color, a prepress and digital imaging service company. He will be based in the Santa Ana regional headquarters office. Before joining American Color, Heyer was operations manager of the prepress facility of George Rice & Sons/World Color in Los Angeles.

* Denise Smith has joined Irvine Apartment Communities in Newport Beach as director of asset management. For the past eight years, Smith was responsible for the San Francisco apartment operation of Forest City Development. Before that, she was responsible for a portfolio of apartment properties in Phoenix.

* Douglas Mitchell has been named vice president and corporate controller for Del Taco Inc., an Orange-based fast-food chain. In his new post, he will oversee the company’s accounting functions. Before joining Del Taco in 1994, Mitchell held positions with Coopers & Lybrand and Geneva Corp., a subsidiary of Chemical Bank.