THOUSAND OAKS : Arts Post Draws Interest of Hundreds

More than 200 candidates have requested applications for the job of executive director of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, now under construction at the Jungleland site, a city administrator said.

The job description calls for an executive director with “the soul of an artist, the outgoing personality of a politician, the business judgment of a successful manager and a deep and sincere commitment to community service and the performing arts.”

That laundry list of requirements apparently has not daunted candidates, who responded to advertisements in arts journals and newspapers by flooding the city’s human resources department with application requests. On Monday, 103 eager candidates called, senior personnel administrator Denese Wilson Cox said. The application deadline is March 4.

A panel composed of Mayor Judy Lazar, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, two citizens involved in the arts and two theater directors from other cities will screen the applications and select about eight semifinalists to be interviewed by a separate committee.

The City Council will then interview three finalists at an open meeting this spring and make a final selection.

With an annual salary of $77,000 to $100,000, the executive director will be responsible for booking shows in the 1,800-seat auditorium and 400-seat forum theater, advertising the season’s lineup, hiring and supervising all administrative and technical staff, and managing the theaters’ budgets. The director will also help plan a grand opening festival, scheduled for October, 1994.