Poway residents have officially started an effort to recall Poway Councilmember Tony Blain just three months into his term.
After colleagues and critics accused Blain of vote trading, bribery, harassment, bullying and retaliation since taking office, residents gave Blain a notice of intent to recall just before a City Council meeting on March 18. More than 60 residents signed it and it officially kicks off an effort to force a recall election to remove Blain from office.
Voice of San Diego previously reported that the Poway City Council censured, or officially reprimanded, Blain last month after public emails revealed Blain attempting to vote trade with another councilmember.
Dozens of emails going back several months also show Blain, who represents District 2, threatening and harassing elected officials and city staff members on multiple occasions, including City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher, who accused Blain of bullying and harassment at a Jan. 21 City Council meeting.
Public emails also show Blain asking Fenstermacher to call the police on two different residents who criticized Blain via email. In one email, Blain wrote that he filed a police report against a resident who criticized him, Fenstermacher said, calling it “the most offensive thing [he’s] ever seen as a government attorney.”
The council’s censure of Blain was the first in Poway’s 45-year history.
Since then, calls for Blain to resign have grown louder with even the city’s mayor, Steve Vaus, urging Blain to resign at a Council meeting last month.
But Blain isn’t budging.
In a statement to Voice via email, Blain maintains that any corruption lies among other councilmembers and the mayor.
“Recall effort was launched by developers/ painting contractor Mullin (who residents accuse of developing 22-acre Highcrest Court with his brother-in-law in Poway paying miniscule approximately $2,500 mitigation fees when rest of developments in Poway then paid MUCH more) who financially benefits from Mayor Vaus and Councilmember DeHoff voting YES on all battery plants and developments AFTER they take campaign contributions from developers,” Blain wrote. “Poway has corrupt Mayor who has appointed 4 Councilmembers instead of allowing Special Elections. Recall effort is simply a means of Poway Mayor trying to appoint a FIFTH Councilmember to maintain political control of Poway City Council and ruin our ‘City in the Country.’”
Now, a group of Poway residents led by two former Poway councilmembers, John Mullin and Anita Edmondson, are taking matters into their own hands.
Mullin, who served on the council from 2010 to 2022, told Voice of San Diego Blain is an “embarrassment” and a “disgrace,” who has committed egregious acts as an elected official.
“We would all rather be doing something else,” Mullen said. “But we’re not going to stand by and watch him undo all the good work we’ve done in Poway over the years.”
This Isn’t Poway’s First Recall Effort
The recall effort against Blain isn’t the first one Poway has seen in its history.
In 2010, residents recalled former Poway Councilmember Betty Rexford, who was accused of using her position and influence to interfere with construction on her neighbor’s property.
Mullen told Voice that Rexford’s recall and the current recall effort against Blain show residents’ dedication to protecting Poway.
“I think it really speaks well,” Mullen said. “I mean, we see a problem and we’re prepared to mobilize to fix the problem because we all take pride and Poway.”
Vaus actually led Rexford’s recall effort and he later became the target of a recall effort in 2021 after he was accused of violating the state’s Political Reform Act by not filing certain paperwork and failing to report financial disclosures or register Carols by Candlelight, his annual Christmas-time fundraising concert, as a charity or business with the state. Vaus denied the allegations.
The effort to recall Vaus failed to garner enough signatures to make it to a recall election.
What’s next: Once the notice of intent for Blain’s recall is approved by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, the group will have 90 days to collect at least 2,500 signatures, Mullen told Voice. That would prompt a vote for District 2 residents to decide whether Blain should be recalled.
“If we mobilize with enough political influence to get 2,500 ballot signatures, I don’t think there’s any way that the election will not succeed to recall him,” Mullen said.
Mullin and the other residents leading the effort also plan to push for a special election to replace Blain if he is recalled. Given that Blain is still early in his four-year term, residents of District 2 should be able to elect a new representative, Mullin said.