Probst Donates $16,000 to 2 Council Candidates

Millionaire businessman Charles E. Probst on Monday donated $16,000 to two Thousand Oaks City Council candidates with pro-business platforms, financing a last-minute blitz of cable television ads.

Financial services manager Michael Friedman said he received a $10,000 check from Probst. And homicide detective Michael Markey reported a $6,000 campaign contribution from the North Ranch telecommunications executive.

Probst earned a measure of notoriety last month when he donated $2 million to the Civic Arts Plaza. Then, just one week after his record-setting donation, Probst persuaded a majority of council members to approve a controversial plan to landscape his estate in violation of city policies.

Both Friedman and Markey spoke in favor of Probst’s landscape plan at the public hearing in early October. But neither candidate has ever met the mysterious businessman who boosted their campaigns, they said.

“It’s a shock, really,” said Markey, who had collected only about $8,000 before Probst’s gift. “I don’t even know the man.”

Probst could not be reached for comment.

While both candidates welcomed the infusion of cash, Friedman worried that the donation might tar him as a special-interest puppet.

Friedman had financed his aggressive campaign in large part with a $13,000 contribution from car dealers at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall.

“I called some friends today to ask how I should deal with it, and they said to wear it with a badge of honor,” Friedman said. “Well, that’s a great slogan, but how does it look to Joe and Mary Six-Pack, who are making $30,000 a year, when this kid gets $10,000 out of nowhere?”

But the 27-year-old Friedman decided to “accept (the money) with all enthusiasm,” especially since his campaign treasury is down to $66. He has spent much of his money running two ads on cable television: one introducing himself at a family picnic and the other fiercely denouncing slow-growth incumbent Elois Zeanah.

To help her rebut such attacks, Zeanah’s husband, James, loaned $10,000 to her campaign Monday, nearly doubling her contributions. Zeanah said she would use the money to mail a flyer to registered voters.

Drawing a distinction between her husband’s loan and Probst’s gifts, Zeanah condemned her opponents for accepting “special-interest money” that she insisted comes with strings attached.

“We don’t want to sit back and allow special interests and their candidates to buy the election, which is what they’re trying to do,” she said.