Citing the need for more information, the Poway City Council voted 4-0 Friday to delay a decision on how to fill the community’s vacant District 2 seat.
Tony Blain, who faces various felony charges, including bribery and perjury, resigned from the post this week, one day after residents voted in favor of a recall election.
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.
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.
The city could hold the election next April or June 2, which is the California state primary.
Blain was elected in November 2024. His resignation came the day after this week’s special election, when data from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters showed that 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.
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.
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 deployment the hearing was postponed until January.
Anita Edmondson, a former Poway City Council member, noted that Blain’s criminal charges “are for the very conduct that prompted the recall.”
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.
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.
Updated 2:25 p.m. Nov. 7, 2025
