The City of Thousand Oaks, located in beautiful Ventura County, 12 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, is nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounded by more than 14,800 acres of natural publicly owned open space. This open space contains 75 miles of trails for hiking, biking, or just leisurely walking. While this natural acreage gives our community the best of nature, another source of pride in our community is the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Opened in 1994, this jewel of cultural arts has become a beacon for our region featuring world-class entertainment, musicals, concerts, children’s shows, ballets, and much more. Thousand Oaks, a family-oriented community of 128,000, is home to excellent schools, outstanding parks, and myriad shopping opportunities, including the largest auto mall in the nation, according to J.D. Powers and Associates.
Incorporated in 1964, Thousand Oaks is a master planned community at its best. City services which other communities only dream about such as a city-owned library, teen center, senior center, cultural center, quality infrastructure, and natural open space is due to thorough planning by the City’s past councils and leaders.
The City has been fortunate to have had a balanced budget throughout its history due to conservative management. To keep the balanced budget in place in the face of state budget cuts, City leaders have enacted a selective hiring freeze with approximately thirty positions frozen (not being filled). Even though Thousand Oaks is still growing, the City is not adding any new positions while maintaining current programs and services. City leaders have not added any new programs or positions for several years; cutbacks have been made in a variety of areas where possible.
Thousand Oaks remains the economic engine of Ventura County in the areas of job creation, property tax generation, sales tax generation, and economic diversity.
With a very involved community, the City has more than 30 commissions, boards, and committees that provide citizen input to the City Council. Among these are the Resident’s Roundtable, Business Roundtable, Arts Commission, Council on Aging, and Youth Commission. The Youth Commission is in the middle of implementation of the Youth Master Plan that the City Council adopted last year. The City is helping generate interest in civic careers by participating in Groundhog Job Shadow Day and internships with our local school district and colleges. City leaders also support staff memberships in organizations such as MMASC, CAPIO, LCC, CSFMO, GFOA, etc.
Thousand Oaks staff is highly professional and knowledgeable in their areas of expertise and Human Resources provides training classes both professional and personal in nature to educate employees. The City’s Information Technology Division offers computer training classes monthly for employees to learn a new program or take a refresher course.
Because of our involved community, the City of Thousand Oaks takes communicating with residents seriously. Customer service is emphasized from helping at public counters to answering phones. Our residents are our customers. Any avenue of communication is used to let residents know about services available, public hearings, etc. Everything from press releases to the City website to ads to town hall meetings are used to “get the word out” to the community. The City also has its own government cable access channel, TOTV, to air City Council and commission meetings for residents live and as repeats throughout the week.
In Thousand Oaks we have much to be thankful for – a premiere Southern California community with family-friendly amenities that are envied by other cities in the region. More than 40 years of achievements have made Thousand Oaks one of the most sought after places in California to live, work, and play.
About the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza
 Owner/Operator
The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza was built by decision of the Thousand Oaks City Council and opened the theatres for their inaugural season in October 1994. The complex, including the Bank of America Performing Arts Center and the parking structure, is owned by the City of Thousand Oaks and is operated by the City’s Community and Cultural Services Department. Thousand Oaks City Hall and the 3-acre Mary and Richard Carpenter Plaza Park are also located here. For more information, contact the Community and Cultural Services Department Administration office, (805) 449-2700 or email
Board of Governors
The Board of Governors’ official name is the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center Board of Governors. This body is appointed by the Thousand Oaks City Council; membership includes five members appointed by current City Councilmembers and one at-large Council-appointed member as well as representatives from the Alliance f  The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Foundation
The Foundation’s official name is the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Just as the Thousand Oaks City Council also serves as Directors of the City’s Redevelopment Agency, members of the Board of Governors also serve as the Board of Directors of the non-profit Foundation. The Foundation sponsors performing arts programming and educational activities at the Civic Arts Plaza.
The Alliance for the Arts
The Alliance for the Arts is the official non-profit fundraising arm of the Civic Arts Plaza, soliciting and accepting donations for the Civic Arts Plaza theatres in support of operations and maintenance (through the development of endowment funds) and for special programs and educational activities (separate endowment funds). Major donors ($50,000+) are members of the Founders Circle. The Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization operated by a volunteer Board of Directors, with an Executive Director and office staff located in office space on-site. For more information about the Alliance for the Arts, call (805) 449-2590. Friends of the Civic Arts Plaza
The Friends of the Civic Arts Plaza, created by City Council during the Plaza’s first year of operation, is an all-volunteer organization which provides support to the Theatres Department. A primary function of this organization is the Volunteer Usher program, consisting of 400+ volunteers, which complements the City Theatres Department staff to provide quality live arts experiences to performance patrons. Other volunteer opportunities include office angels, hospitality, gift shop, membership and more. For more information call the Friends of the Civic Arts Plaza: (805) 449-2741.
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