Panel Deadlocked on Giving Donors Say in Arts Plaza Operation

Debating their own fate, Thousand Oaks theater commissioners have deadlocked on whether to invite major donors to help them guide programming at the Civic Arts Plaza.

On a 3-3 vote late Wednesday night, with Commissioner Larry Sparrow absent, the panel reached a resounding “no decision” and turned the issue over to the City Council.

The evening’s most emotional speeches came from commissioners opposed to adding seats for private contributors who have pledged at least $50,000 to a cultural endowment fund.

“Money certainly buys a lot of things, but it doesn’t buy taste or judgment,” Commissioner Mary Hekhuis said. “To say major donors need such a voice is almost extortion.”

The current theater commission consists of seven members appointed by the City Council for their expertise in fund-raising, their business or public relations skills, or their devotion to the arts.

Meeting monthly, the seven commissioners debate a host of policy issues, from allowing liquor sales at intermissions to charging for performance-night parking. They also oversee the cultural center’s budget and will manage cash flow from the endowment once the theaters open in October.

All their votes are phrased as recommendations to the City Council, which generally rubber-stamps each decision.

“Major donors should have no reason to fear (decisions made by) intelligent people representing the public,” Hekhuis said. “This goes back to the beginning of democracy.” But in fact, the current arrangement has spooked some potential donors, who are reluctant to give money to a pot controlled by a politically appointed panel, fund-raiser Chuck Cohen said.

To calm the would-be contributors, endowment campaign leaders have recommended expanding the Civic Theaters Commission by giving five seats to donors, two to arts organizations and one to the Alliance for the Arts fund-raising cabinet.

They also propose shifting the theater commission from a public panel to a private, nonprofit governing board, thereby eliminating the need to post agendas and hold open meetings.

These changes could boost donations to the Alliance for the Arts endowment, fund-raising consultant Esther Wachtell said. With full coffers, she added, the endowment could subsidize children’s programs, reduced ticket prices for seniors and other goodies.

“I believe we will wake up every morning and see a sea of yellow school buses outside the Civic Arts Plaza because we will have the funding to keep the children coming and keep the programming exciting for the next 75 years and beyond,” Wachtell said.

Those arguments earned her support from commissioners Larry Janss, Harry Selvin and Virginia Davis--all major donors to the endowment.

“We just want to know that the investment major donors make will not be subject to the whims of political winds,” Janss said.

Yet by distancing the Civic Arts Plaza from public and political scrutiny, former Mayor Larry Horner argued, the commission could create “the perception that this is a big-money thing . . . being run by remote control from people in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills.”

Furthermore, Commissioner Julian Macdonald said, the donors who contribute to the endowment fund know their money is earmarked for the day-to-day operation of the Civic Arts Plaza theaters--the light bills, the technical staff, and other nuts-and-bolts details.

If they wish to control programming, the same donors could put up funds to sponsor certain shows, like a symphony series or a rap concert, he said. GTE, for example, has agreed to fund a Spotlight Series featuring magician David Copperfield and the American Indian Dance Theater.

Commissioners Macdonald, Hekhuis and Gib Poiry voted against giving votes to donors, while Janss, Davis and Selvin favored the proposal.