Cultural Center Foes Decry Flyers Given to Students

Opponents of a $22.3-million Thousand Oaks performing arts complex accused local school officials Thursday of sending political material on the issue to homes of the district’s 18,000 students.

The critics alleged that production of the flyers is an improper use of public money to support the cultural center proposal, which will go before city voters June 3 in a non-binding measure.

Measure C asks voters whether they approve of construction of a group of cultural facilities, including a 1,800-seat theater for drama, music and dance; a 299-seat theater; an art gallery with workshops and classrooms, and an outdoor amphitheater. Funding would come from property taxes collected in a city redevelopment zone along Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The proposal would also have the city contribute $2.85 million--$2.35 million from redevelopment agency funds and the rest from general revenues--to build theaters at three area high schools. The district would chip in $1.5 million.

Mailing Planned

The flyers were sent home with thousands of elementary school students of the Conejo Valley Unified School District on Monday and Tuesday at the direction of the Board of Education, Supt. Thomas Boysen said Thursday. Parents of junior and senior high pupils will receive them in a Parent Teacher Assn. mailing, he said.

Titled “Fact Sheet--Measure C,” the flyers contain 12 questions and answers on the use of redevelopment funds and other aspects of the cultural center issue. Printing cost about $800, school officials said.

The sheet does not endorse Measure C, but includes several passages taken verbatim from campaign literature of the For Measure C Committee, which is leading the campaign for the arts center.

“It was blatantly political,” complained Richard D. Booker, a longtime opponent of public financing for the arts. “To use our schools and children as distributors of biased information is wrong. It lacks any sense of ethics.”

School officials defended the flyer, arguing that it contained only impartial information that explains the district’s role in the cultural center proposal.

An attorney reviewed the information sheet and concluded that it did not violate any state law, Boysen said.

“It sets out the facts,” Boysen said. “We’ve got a responsibility to the public to explain how it affects us. I knew we couldn’t advocate it.”

The board on Jan. 22 unanimously backed the cultural center plan. On Feb. 10, it voted 5 to 0 to contribute the $1.5 million to build one of the school “feeder” theaters.

“I don’t have any trouble with it,” school board member Kate Cox said of the flyer. “After all, the school district is in favor of the feeder theaters and we thought the fact sheet addressed that issue.”

Meeting on Complaint

Booker told board members Wednesday night that he would like to see opponents given an equal opportunity to distribute their views on the arts center proposal. The board agreed to meet with Booker next week to discuss his complaint.

If the board fails to act, Booker said, he will appeal the flyers’ distribution to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which rules on whether expenditures by individuals, companies and government agencies must be reported as campaign contributions. Booker said he considers the flyer a contribution to the For Measure C Committee.

Lynn Montgomery, media director for the commission, said that, without an express declaration of support for Measure C, public spending for the flyers is not illegal.

“They probably are within the legal lines,” she said.

Critics of the cultural center plan said the issue is not so much the legality but the fairness of the district’s action.

“They don’t give a hang about the intent of the law, just so it’s legal,” contended Jack Rudd, president of the newly formed Committee Against Tax Supported Culture.

“This is a very sleazy affair. They shouldn’t use taxpayer money . . . in any political matter,” he said.