Arts Plaza Patron a Mystery Figure : Thousand Oaks: Controversial man in the North Ranch hilltop home promises to break his silence.

He first caught the city’s attention as the incredibly generous local philanthropist who had just donated a cool $2 million to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

And then he caught it again just one week later as the central figure in a civic controversy over what he can do with his front lawn--which just happens to be a very large front lawn.

One Civic Arts Plaza official called the $2-million gift “an unparalleled act of faith” in the city’s new cultural center.

And one former mayor called the city’s handling of the lawn controversy “probably one of the most disgraceful days in Thousand Oaks history.”

Through it all, Charles E. Probst remained a man most definitely above the fray--a mystery figure in a hilltop home in North Ranch whom few people in town had ever heard of before.

And Probst made it clear last week that’s the way he wants to keep it--at least for now.

Amid questions about his background and charges and countercharges over the timing of his donation, Probst refused to go into detail about himself or what makes him tick.

The soft-spoken businessman said he preferred to keep quiet about such matters. He would speak when the time was right.

Probst donated the $2 million less than a week before the City Council was to hear the issue of how he could landscape his front lawn--specifically a request for the city to waive its rule prohibiting construction in open space.

In August, the Planning Commission had rejected Probst’s request to plant 900 trees and build utility roads and a maintenance bunker on his land at Westlake Boulevard and Kanan Road because the estate’s previous owner had promised to leave the hillside alone.

Despite that agreement with the city, Probst had scraped the natural growth from his front yard and then applied for the waiver. Although it was a violation of city policies, the council gave Probst what he wanted Tuesday on a 3-2 vote.

Aside from his neighbors and Charles Cohen, the lawyer who represented Probst in the landscaping battle, practically no one in the city had much knowledge about Probst.

But plenty of curiosity.

“I didn’t even know for sure he was a real person until the council meeting,” Planning Commissioner Irving Wasserman quipped.

“He’s a mystery, there’s no question about it,” added Cathy Schutz, who fought Probst’s landscape plans despite never meeting him in person.

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Arts officials moved in to defend Probst, saying they had performed with “due diligence” in checking out his past. Most of them had to admit, though, that they had never met the mysterious donor.

“I don’t know what he does, I don’t know where he’s from, and I’m not sure I care,” said civic leader Larry Janss, himself a major contributor and fund-raiser for the plaza. “It’s the classic case of don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Around Thousand Oaks last week, many people wanted to know more about Probst, and rumors swirled about his background.

Some officials speculated on the deepest of background that he was British royalty. Others insistently whispered he was the inventor of a popular type of automobile windshield wiper.

But they were wrong, according to the best available intelligence.

The 51-year-old California native is the owner of a relatively obscure telecommunications company based in Calabasas called Bankers Communications Co.

Before that, Probst worked for his father at Bankers Electric Co., an electrical contracting firm in San Marino, according to Anthony Munoz, now the president of Bankers Electric.

Bankers Communications is a consulting business that deals in custom computer software systems and has three employees, public records show. It was organized in 1969.

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According to Cohen, Probst works hard despite his wealth, often heading into work as early as 4 a.m.

Cohen called his client a very private man. But several of Probst’s neighbors said he’s really not all that private and he’s actually a nice guy once you get to know him.

“I see him out and about all the time,” said one, who asked not to be identified. “I think the only reason people think he’s a recluse is because they don’t know him.”

Another North Ranch resident, Patricia Miller, said her late husband knew Probst and often ran into him around town.

“He’d run into Charles at lunch all the time,” Miller said. “Charles is quiet, but he’s a very nice man.”

Probst also had proven himself to be a generous man long before his gift to the arts plaza. He just didn’t get any publicity about it.

Optimist Club fund-raiser Rene Rodriguez remembered a day in 1991 when he was working to save the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s DARE program.

“I was struggling to raise the funds and Mr. Probst was watching me on TV and he called me out of the blue sky,” Rodriguez recalled. “He said, ‘How much money do you need’ and I said, ‘$10,000.’ He said, ‘Would $20,000 help?’ And I said ‘Yes sir!’ ”

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Still, even those who claim a friendship with Probst can say little about where the businessman found his financial success.

“There’s talk at his parties about his owning a patent to some sort of telecommunications technology,” one neighbor said. “But it’s not really clear what it is.”

Probst himself says he will break his silence before the arts plaza opens. He and another lawyer, Paul Stansen, promised a press conference to answer all unanswered questions within the next two weeks.

“I know that the press conference is something a lot of people are anxious about,” said Richard Johnson, the Civic Arts Plaza’s fund-raising campaign director. “It promises to be a revealing event for us all.”