North County Report: Drama Continues on Poway’s City Council

Two recall efforts, a potential lawsuit and a whole lot of bickering – political drama in Poway is reaching a boiling point. 

If you’ve been tuning into Poway’s City Council meetings over the past few months, then you’ve noticed quite a bit of tension among councilmembers, city staff and residents. And by tension, I mean heated exchanges between elected officials, residents announcing efforts to recall councilmembers, city staff alleging harassment and bullying from a councilmember and more. 

Last month, I wrote about how Poway residents kicked off an effort to recall District 2 Councilmember Tony Blain, who has only been on the council for a little over three months. 

The recall effort began after the Poway City Council censured, or officially reprimanded, Blain after public emails revealed Blain attempting to vote trade with another councilmember.   

Dozens of emails going back several months also show Blain 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.   

But Blain’s not the only one facing threats of a recall. Another group of residents have started a recall effort against District 3 Councilmember Peter De Hoff. 

Those leading the effort to recall De Hoff say he ran his campaign, back in 2022, on a platform that “strongly opposed high density development,” according to his candidate statement. Some residents now say that he hasn’t stayed true to that sentiment, which has eroded their trust in him. 

Poway’s Council has approved several major development projects in recent years, sparking criticism from residents who say the projects clash with the city’s character and worsen issues like traffic and infrastructure strain. De Hoff has supported some of these high-density projects. 

De Hoff did not respond to a request for comment.  

There are also social media rumblings from residents pushing for yet another recall — this one aimed at Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. Vaus was the target of a recall effort back in 2021, but it failed to garner enough signatures to make it to a recall election.  

There May Be a Lawsuit, Too 

Earlier this year, the Poway City Council had to fill a vacant council seat after District 1 Councilmember Brian Pepin announced he was resigning from his seat to focus on his political consulting business.  

Councilmembers then made a controversial decision to appoint someone to the seat instead of holding a special election. This frustrated many residents who argued that Poway has a “troubled history” with appointments.  

The council ended up appointing Christopher Pikus to represent District 1 until the term ends in 2026. Now, one resident is challenging the legality of that appointment. 

Hiram Soto, a Poway resident who ran for council in 2022 and lost to Pepin, is asking the attorney general for permission to sue to have Pikus removed. Soto claims that Pepin, who voted for Pikus’ appointment, no longer lived in the district during the appointing process, making his vote ineligible. 

Poway’s municipal code says that a councilmember who moves out of their district for more than 30 days creates an immediate vacancy, but representatives for Poway disagree.  

City Attorney Fenstermacher and Poway spokesperson Rene Carmichael told Axios San Diego back in February that the city is looking to state law to determine that, despite his move, Pepin was still eligible to vote because he had not yet established a new residence by the time of the vote. 

The attorney general’s office is still reviewing the case to determine if it can proceed to court, Fenstermacher said at a recent City Council meeting. 

Tensions Are High 

As the recall efforts and (possible) lawsuit continue, tensions on the council have continued to rise. 

Recent City Council meetings have been filled with heated back-and-forth exchanges, digs and bickering between Blain and Vaus, and between Blain and De Hoff. 

Vaus and De Hoff have also taken turns introducing new legislation seemingly aimed specifically at Blain. For example, at the April 1 meeting, De Hoff and Vaus introduced rules that would define attendance criteria for Council meetings, including tracking how long a councilmember sits at the dais during each meeting. 

This is in response to Blain’s habit of walking out of the Council chambers whenever he is being criticized by his colleagues or by public speakers. Ironically, he walked out again — right as De Hoff was introducing the proposed attendance criteria. 

“Last night’s council meeting was an embarrassment,” wrote one Poway resident on Facebook, referring to the April 1 meeting. “The personality duel between Tony Blain and Mayor Vaus stole the show and pulled everyone down into the gutter to watch.” 

Her post was accompanied by a meme that read, “This is a shitshow!” 

In Other News 

• Escondido is behind on reaching its state-mandated housing goals across all income levels, according to a city staff report last month. (Coast News) 
• SANDAG’s upcoming beach restoration project will be the largest one yet, delivering three times the sand previously pumped onto the coastline and at 10 times the cost. The agency is expected to place about 5.8 million cubic yards of sand on 15 sites in San Diego County and three in Orange County at a cost of about $260 million. (Union-Tribune) 
• Oceanside is cracking down on sidewalk vending by making it easier for city officials to impound carts belonging to vendors who don’t have the proper permits. (Coast News)