Officials Question Arts Center Funding : Endowment: Several Thousand Oaks council members call for disclosure of financial status, charging that businessman is withdrawing donation.

THOUSAND OAKS — Just a few weeks before its first birthday, Thousand Oaks’ new performing arts center, designed to be the cultural jewel of Ventura County, is engulfed in a controversy over whether its main benefactor is backing out on a promised $2-million donation.

Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, a longtime critic of the arts center, said this week that she has learned that businessman Charles E. Probst is reneging on his promise to donate $2 million to the Civic Arts Plaza’s endowment.

The glittering letters spelling out the millionaire’s name should be wrenched off the side of the performing arts center, Zeanah said. And the Alliance to the Arts, the nonprofit fund-raising group responsible for the endowment, should open its books and explain its financial status, she added.

Joining Zeanah in calling for a public accounting of the art’s center financial status was a frequent Zeanah ally, Thousand Oaks Mayor Jaime Zukowski, another critic of the arts center. “The city of Thousand Oaks is dependent on this endowment to carry out the costly annual operations of this facility,” Zukowski said. “It’s imperative, if there is something that endangers that, the Alliance must communicate with us.”

Probst, a reclusive businessman who lives in a guarded hilltop estate in the Thousand Oaks community of North Ranch, made the pledge last fall, just as the $64-million building, which houses the city government as well as two theaters, was about to open.

His first installment on the pledge was a check for $250,000. But, according to Zeanah, the money stopped there.

Probst has made no comment about the issue. And Probst’s attorney, Paul Stansen, said this week that the millionaire has nothing to say on the subject.

Despite the comments by Zeanah and Zukowski, Alliance leaders remained quiet about the prickly situation.

They refused to confirm or deny that they have lost their biggest donor, saying the nonprofit group’s financial status is not subject to public scrutiny. Revealing details about donors would harm their future fund-raising activities, leaders said.

Alliance Director Dick Johnson said the group has received $10.7 million in pledges to date, to be used for operating expenses and special programs at the center. Of that, $3.9 million in cash and contributions--including advertising--has actually been received.

The Alliance has pledged to give $250,000 annually to the performing arts center for operating expenses and staff salaries. It is the principal source of funding for operations. Eventually, Johnson said, the endowment should produce that much in interest annually. However, in this first year there was only about $2 million in an interest-bearing account, and the group needed to combine several funding sources to make the annual payment.

While Zeanah and Zukowski were calling for public disclosure, other Thousand Oaks council members said they respect the abilities of Alliance members--who include some of the most powerful behind the scenes players in city politics--and trust them to continue to make the scheduled $250,000 annual payments.

“I think it is inappropriate for the council to react to a rumor, period,” said Councilman Andy Fox.

“If there is a problem with pledges made, [the Alliance] will bring them to us as they deem appropriate,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “Even if this rumor were true, the Alliance would be trying to rectify that. Anybody reasonable would want that to happen instead of going around and saying that it’s going to fall flat on its face.”

But Zeanah called for the group to tell the truth, which she said she has confirmed through top city officials and knowledgeable sources.

“I disagree with Alliance members who say this is not a public issue. His name is on a public building and that makes this a public issue,” she said. “If he is not paying his $2 million, his name should not be on the building.”

Despite her outrage over Probst’s apparent withdrawal of financial support, Zeanah said that she has been reassured the Alliance has binding contracts with Probst and all its donors.