Poway City Council discusses how to fill Tony Blain's seat after his resignation
Citing the need for cost information, the Poway City Council voted 4-0 Friday to delay a decision on how to fill the District 2 seat that became vacant when Tony Blain resigned this week, one day after residents voted in favor of a recall election for his seat.
According to a city spokeswoman, the council is committed to holding a special election, but no meeting date has been set for a formal approval.
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Following a brief discussion, Mayor Steve Vaus and council members Peter De Hoff, Jenny Maeda and Christopher Pikus passed on a formal decision, asking the county Registrar of Voters to provide an estimated cost for a special election.
The city could hold the election next April or June 2, which is the California state primary. Blain, who faces various felony charges, resigned Wednesday after residents on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to hold a recall election for his seat.
City officials said Blain’s resignation would take effect immediately.
Blain was elected in November 2024 to represent residents in District 2. Initial results provided by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters showed 80% of voters in his district supported a citizen-led recall ballot measure.
In April, the council unanimously approved a new policy requiring a special election when filling a vacancy occurring within the first 18 months of a council member’s four-year term.
Vaus on Friday said he and other city leaders thought normally, they would wait for the recall election to be certified in December.
“I believe a special election is the way to go,” said Vaus, who added he didn’t support an all-mailed ballot process.
Vaus also said there would be savings by consolidating the special election with the state primary.
De Hoff said he was leaning toward a special election, adding, “it’s a matter of keeping your word as a council, as a leader. And we made that commitment back in April.”
De Hoff, also deputy mayor, said a June election might have better voter engagement, but city officials needed more information. According to one city official, an election could cost between $150,000 to $300,000, but was just an estimate.
One Poway resident stressed the need for a special election, as it’s the cost of business in a democracy.
A U.S. Army Reserve doctor, Blain has been accused of vote trading, threatening recalls against colleagues and attempting to use law enforcement to silence critics.
Blain earlier described the recall effort as “political backlash … designed to block me from fully participating in council meetings and to punish me for asking the tough questions taxpayers deserve to have answered.”
As of Oct. 28, Blain was deployed overseas and unavailable to comment, according to his former campaign manager and a spokesman.
“He’s in a difficult situation being on active duty,” Steve Marietti told City News Service in a phone interview. “I don’t know anything about this criminal case, other than it’s very, very unfortunate. He’s a good man.”
Marietti referred questions about the legal case against Blain to attorney Robert Salgado, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, Vaus told CNS in an emailed statement that Blain’s resignation “comes on the heels of a crushing recall election defeat (but) rings hollow.
“He could have saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars had he resigned earlier,” Vaus added. “Coming now, it’s too little, too late.”
Blain was slated to appear in a downtown San Diego courtroom Monday to be arraigned on charges that include perjury and soliciting bribes, but due to his overseas deployment the hearing was postponed until January.
According to a pro-recall spokeswoman, Blain “has proven himself time and again to be unfit to serve public office, so we know the case for recall is rock solid.”
Anita Edmondson, a former Poway City Council member, noted that Blain’s criminal charges “are for the very conduct that prompted the recall.” Edmondson told CNS on Oct. 28 that within weeks of taking office late last year, “there was evidence of Blain attempting bribery and vote trading.”
She said Blain “also misused his position to attempt to silence critics, demanding that the city initiate law enforcement action against private citizens with whom he disagrees and, when denied, calling the (county Sheriff’s Office) himself.”
Edmondson accused Blain of being abusive to Poway government colleagues, including City Manager Chris Hazeltine and City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher.
Edmondson said Blain has “demonstrated he was not interested in following the city’s code of ethics — behavior that earned him the city’s first (and second) censure by fellow council members in its 45-year history.
“This was all within the first six weeks of being in office,” Edmondson added. “There was no doubt Mr. Blain would continue his abusive, unethical and unprofessional behavior if left unchecked.”
In February, the City Council voted 4-0 to censure Blain, the first such action in that governing body’s 45-year history. Blain was absent from that meeting.
In April, the city filed a lawsuit against Blain for allegedly destroying public records and failing to comply with the California Public Records Act.
The lawsuit alleged Blain conducted city business on private email accounts, through text messages, and on the encrypted Signal app, then deleted some of those messages.
Located in eastern Poway, District 2 is home to communities such as Bridlewood Country Estates, The Farm and Summerfield. It also contains the popular recreation sites Iron Mountain and Lake Poway.
