Donors Urge Private Panel for Plaza : Thousand Oaks: Patrons concerned about political pressure and public scrutiny call for a nonprofit board to oversee management of the center.

Hoping to shield financial decisions about the Civic Arts Plaza from political pressure and public scrutiny, a group of major donors and fund-raisers wants a private board to oversee management of the $64-million center.

The Civic Arts Plaza is now run by a seven-member committee of business and civic leaders appointed by the Thousand Oaks City Council.

But Richard Johnson, director of the nonprofit Alliance for the Arts fund-raising campaign, has proposed dissolving the council-appointed committee and replacing it with a 15-member, nonprofit board of governors.

The additional seats would go to the Alliance for the Arts, major donors and representatives from the Arts Commission and Arts Council.

Johnson said his proposal was spurred by concerns from the alliance’s Founders Circle, a group of about 30 individual and corporate donors who have given at least $50,000 each toward the arts center. Some of these big-ticket contributors, he said, are worried that their contributions may be mishandled or “subject to political maneuvering” because council appointees control purse strings.

“They want to be sure the money is used appropriately,” Johnson said.

Bert Greynald, a member of the Founders Circle, said he favors creating a larger, private board instead of several separate groups all wanting to have a voice in the center’s operation.

Placing donors on the board, he said, would also help attract other major contributors.

“They would feel it would be further removed from the political process,” he said. “After all, we’re trying to do an art thing here, not a political thing.”

But Virginia Davis, chairwoman of the theater commission, said she does not believe that control over finances is a legitimate concern.

“I believe everyone on this commission is looking to do the best for this facility,” she said. “We work well together. We make decisions. There’s been no political overtones whatsoever with this commission.”

So far, the project’s endowment coffers stand at $4.5 million, and the alliance has set a goal of raising $10 million by next spring.

To date, the theater commission has not made any decision about endowment spending, but the panel will probably start dealing with the issue after the Civic Arts Plaza opens in the fall. The endowment is designed to subsidize the day-to-day operations of the cultural center so the city will not be forced to dip into the taxpayer-supported general fund.

The theater commissioners will discuss Johnson’s restructuring proposal at their meeting Wednesday night. And although the commission can offer an opinion on Johnson’s suggestion, the City Council must approve any changes.

Councilman Frank Schillo said he believes it is too early to start tinkering with the makeup of the commission, which was convened for the first time last fall and has been meeting monthly to plan programming, advertising and operation of the cultural center.

But Schillo said he would support making the group more autonomous by changing commissioners’ terms. As it stands now, each commissioner’s term expires when the council member who appointed him or her faces reelection. With three council seats up for grabs in November, the commission’s makeup could change considerably just a month after the Civic Arts Plaza’s grand opening.

Theater commissioners “have only been operating less than a year and we haven’t even opened the theater yet,” Schillo said. “That’s why I think we need to give it a little more time before we make any major changes.”

In proposing a board of governors, Johnson raised concerns about financial oversight and also about public scrutiny.

As a formal city panel appointed by the council, the theater commission must post agendas, hold open meetings and invite public testimony. The proposed board of governors, a private nonprofit advisory group, would be exempt from such requirements.

Concerns about the theater commission’s open meeting requirement erupted earlier this year when the panel debated hiring singer and actress Bernadette Peters to perform during the grand opening weekend. The contract, including the star’s salary and perks, was much publicized to the dismay of Peters’ agents and the city’s negotiating team.

“Opening contracts and negotiations to the public is embarrassing and it can create problems,” Johnson said. “What they have now is not quite right and needs to be worked out.”

Most other theaters in California and throughout the country are run by private panels, nonprofit boards or artistic directors, and do not have to publicize contracts, according to Tom Mitze, director of the Civic Arts Plaza’s 1,800-seat auditorium and 400-seat community theater.

To bring Thousand Oaks’ venue in line with other theaters, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she would support the effort to keep contract details private. But she disliked the idea of turning over control of the endowment to a group that could deliberate and decide behind closed doors.

“I don’t think I could support keeping costs hidden from the council, the public, or the press,” she said.

Zeanah also criticized Johnson’s proposal for giving too much power to the Alliance for the Arts, a non-appointed, non-elected group of citizen activists, attorneys and fund-raisers.

“I don’t feel the alliance should have the ability to appoint and decide which corporate donors should sit” on a reconstituted theater commission, Zeanah said. “I’m going to have to look at this very carefully.”