7 Named to Board of Cultural Center : Thousand Oaks: Commissioners include both supporters of the $64-million Civic Arts Plaza as well as at least one detractor.

The Thousand Oaks City Council on Wednesday appointed seven business and civic leaders to run its new performing arts complex, selecting finance, management and public relations experts for the daunting task of establishing a top-notch cultural center.

The Performing Arts Commission’s inaugural members include Virginia Davis, the city’s longest-serving planning commissioner; entrepreneur Larry Janss, who owns a shopping complex next to the mall that bears his family name, and Larry Sparrow, president of GTE West in Thousand Oaks.

The unusual mix of commissioners incorporates both gung-ho supporters of the $64-million Civic Arts Plaza as well as at least one detractor. One member, business executive Harry Selvin, lives outside Thousand Oaks, across the Los Angeles County line in Westlake Village.

During the selection process early Wednesday, Councilman Alex Fiore expressed concern that opponents of the Civic Arts Plaza might try to sabotage the cultural center from their seats on the board. But other council members quickly assured him that all appointees would work toward the auditorium’s success.

And the commissioners themselves backed up that claim, promising to do their best to fulfill the often-stated goal of transforming Thousand Oaks into the premiere cultural center between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Janss, who in the past has objected to both the price tag and the political maneuvering behind the Civic Arts Plaza’s approval, said he applied for the commissioner seat after deciding that “instead of sitting on the sidelines and yelling, the best approach was to pitch in and make sure it works.”

He will be working with arts aficionados who have been enthusiastic from the start, like Gib Poiry, a recently retired GTE executive. “I think this center has the potential to be one of the best anywhere,” Poiry said.

In addition to publicity and programming, the Civic Auditorium and Forum Theater Performing Arts Commission--instantly dubbed CAFTPAC--will be responsible for fund raising, specifically, for persuading corporate sponsors to underwrite big-name acts.

The commission will have to live by the motto “Give money, get money, or get off the board,” said Tom Mitze, executive director of the 1,800-seat auditorium and 400-seat theater.

Several of the appointees, including Davis and Julian Macdonald, are already participating in the Alliance for the Arts fund-raising campaign, which aims to generate an endowment of at least $3 million to cover the center’s operating costs. Macdonald said he would resign from the Alliance, but Davis said she sees no conflict between her two fund-raising endeavors.

Aside from drumming up sponsors, the commission will have to devise policy on a host of issues large and small--from how much rent to charge for the auditorium to which community groups should get first priority in scheduling. The group will also help draft plans for a splashy, monthlong grand opening ceremony scheduled for October, 1994.

The City Council will have to sign off on each decision, as the board’s authority is only advisory.

Perhaps the most thorny issue will be whether the city should risk taxpayer funds to subsidize big-name performances, in the hopes that ticket sales would generate enough money to repay the loans.

At least two members of the council, Elois Zeanah and Jaime Zukowski, have said they are adamantly opposed to taking such risks, especially since the city promised never to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the cultural center’s operations.

As an alternative, Zeanah suggested dipping into the $2.6-million contingency fund built into the Civic Arts Plaza’s construction cost.

But many board members--including Janss, who was appointed by Zukowski--indicated a willingness to consider such a financing arrangement if it would attract top-notch programming to Thousand Oaks.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to pull together the type of performances that the city is really expecting,” said Macdonald, an experienced fund-raiser who has located corporate sponsors for the Los Angeles Marathon and other major events.

A seventh board member, Mary Hekhuis, formerly worked as the director of public information for Cal Lutheran University.

Five commission members were each nominated by a sponsoring council member and then ratified by the council as a whole. They will serve as long as their sponsor remains on the council.

The council also appointed two members at large to serve two-year terms. In addition, the Arts Commission and the Alliance for the Arts will each appoint one non-voting member to two-year terms.