Effort to recall embattled Poway city councilman moves ahead – NBC 7 San Diego

An effort to recall embattled Poway city councilman Tony Blaon is moving forward.

On Wednesday, NBC 7 confirmed with Poway mayor Steve Vaus that the signatures were submitted to the city clerk’s office.

In addition, the county’s registrar of voters told NBC 7 it had verified the recall petitions, which will now need to be certified by the city council in order to schedule a recall election, which the council is likely to do at its next meeting, on Aug. 5.

In that election, voters would choose whether to recall Blain and, if a majority votes to do so, his council seat would be vacant and filled in a future election.

Reached for a comment by NBC 7, however, the Poway City Clerk’s office said it had no comment.

At the beginning of July, the Poway City Council voted 4-1, paving the way for a vote on July 15 to censure Blain for allegations of bullying and harassing staffers — something that an independent investigation verified.

“We had complaints filed by two senior staffers saying they’d been abused, harassed, inappropriate behavior on Blain’s part,” Poway mayor Steve Vaus said at the time. “We had an obligation to investigate that.”

Vaus also told NBC 7 that a 2,000-page report done by investigations law firm Van Dermyden Makus cost Poway a quarter million dollars, money that could have been spent on more important things, Vaus said, adding that Blain gave the council no choice. The mayor said he expects that before it’s all over, Blain’s actions will cost the city more than $1 million.

At the July 1 council meeting, City Manager Chris Hazeltine neared tears while reliving sustained findings from the report that details abusive and offensive behavior that he and other city leaders say they suffered at the hands of Blain.

“I’ve struggled this for a year and a half,” Hazeltine said. “Reading report and emails was a tough read because I had to relive it again.”

In February, after reports that Blain made demeaning and threatening statements to city staffers and refused to follow public records laws, fellow city councilmembers voted to censure him for the first time. It was the first such censure of a Poway elected official since the city’s incorporation more than 40 years ago.

Blain opted not to attend the July 1 meeting in person, but he did call in and lashed out at the mayor and council members.

“I got elected to counteract corrupt, the corrupt nature of Poway politics, which you lead, Mayor Vaus,” Blain said through Zoom.

NBC 7 contacted Blain on the phone on July 1 ahead of the meeting, and he said to contact his lawyer but did not provide a name of an attorney. He also texted a statement to NBC 7 that said: “I got elected to root out corruption in Poway. This is yet another effort of Mayor Vaus and his cronies to waste Poway taxpayer money to falsely accuse [a] popularly elected councilman of wrongdoing.”

Blain has filed complaints against the city attorney and manager, but the report couldn’t substantiate those claims.

Blain is being sued by the city for not following public records laws. He’s also been accused of vote-trading and trying to use law enforcement to silence his critics. He’s been accused of bribery, and critics say he’s being investigated by the San Diego County district attorney.

The city-financed report cites an email where Blain tells Councilmember Peter De Hoff he’ll drop his recall effort against him if he votes to support a District 1 special election.

“The guy went from zero to felony in less than a week to swearing an oath to the law, and he just hasn’t stopped,” De Hoff said. “This report is more a progress report than a final bill.”

Blain was also in the news last week when somebody was spotted on video recorded by a home-security camera taking down a Recall Blain sign.

The man who stole that sign and another outside the camera’s view bears a striking resemblance to Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain.

“There is no question in my mind,” former councilman John Mullin told NBC 7 on July 25, but the homeowner, David Haessig, said he was unsure who was captured by his camera. He did say, however, that he wanted the person to be prosecuted.

NBC 7 reached out to Blain to see if he had anything to do with the stolen recall sign. He eventually responded but did not reply to the question, instead making allegations of improprieties involving Mayor Vaus. NBC 7 has not been able to verify those claims.

The video of the signs being stolen and the blue sedan driven by the thief have been turned over to the Poway sheriff’s office for potential prosecution. A detective working on the case said he is working to verify the identity of the thief.