One of the biggest questions being asked after the recall and resignation of Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain is how one person could cause so much chaos.
“This has been one of the most trying times in my 35 years of public service,” City Manager Chris Hazeltine said of Blain’s less than year-long tenure on the council. “It is amazing what we have dealt with here. The incessant lies, harassment and bullying from one of my bosses.”
Over the past year, the city has been left with expenses that Hazeltine estimates “conservatively” at $1 million as a result of Blain’s behavior.
Those costs include $250,000 for a personnel investigation that resulted in a June 6 report about Blain’s behavior toward Hazeltine and City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher. The report, which was discussed at a July 15 council meeting, concluded that Blain made abusive and offensive statements and inappropriate personal comments to both men that were unrelated to the city’s legitimate business interests.
Courtesy Tony Blain
Former Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain. (Courtesy Tony Blain)
On April 30, Poway officials announced that the city had filed a lawsuit against Blain to seek his compliance with the state Public Records Act and to “stop the destruction of public records.”
The civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court in San Diego alleges Blain refused to produce requested public records from his private accounts, apps and devices and deleted public records from those sources and asked others to delete messages from him.
The cost of the lawsuit, which is ongoing, is in the “six figures at this point,” Hazeltine said.
Add to that the costs of the Nov. 4 special election in which 80% of voters in Blain’s District 2 supported his recall and another special election next year to select his replacement. Hazeltine said he doesn’t yet have a dollar figure for those elections.
Blain resigned from the council the day after the recall election.
Other costs related to Blain have come from implementing safety and security measures requested by city officials, staff members and residents, Hazeltine said.
Blain took his council seat Dec. 17, 2024, after winning a three-candidate race.
“People of Poway have been left in the dark with back-door deals being done to decide the future of the city,” Blain told the audience at that meeting. “My tenure will usher in transparency and integrity, and pride will prevail.”
Courtesy city of Poway
Steve Vaus is mayor of the city of Poway. (Courtesy city of Poway)
Even before he was elected, Blain accused Mayor Steve Vaus of corruption and backroom deals and threatened to fire Hazeltine and Fenstermacher.
After Blain was on the council, “I think he had the realization that it took the majority of the council to do anything,” Hazeltine said. “It was no longer ‘You will be fired, Chris,’ but ‘I will get a majority of the council and you will be fired.’”
Blain attended 10 council meetings in person during his abbreviated term and four by teleconference. He was absent for nine, city officials said. He has said some of the absences were due to his deployment as a physician for the Army Reserve.
At several of the meetings he attended, he got up from the dais and walked out of the room when residents criticized his behavior or discussed the recall during public comments.
Aside from the financial cost to the city, Blain’s behavior prompted several council actions, including two censures.
The first censure was approved 4-0 (with Blain absent) over allegations of vote trading, threatening recalls against colleagues and attempting to use law enforcement to silence critics. It was the city’s first censure of a council member in its 45-year history.
The second was a 4-1 vote July 15, with Blain opposed, after the release of the results of the personnel investigation into his behavior toward Hazeltine and Fenstermacher.
Blain, who attended that meeting remotely, argued that the censure was about political disagreements and other differences of opinion.
Before Blain took his seat, the council passed an ordinance Dec. 3, 2024, clarifying that council members may not contact city staff outside a council meeting and that all other inquiries must go through the city manager.
“My goal is to insulate,” Hazeltine said. “To keep them protected and removed from the buffoonery, the harassment, the bullying, and I got to be the single contact for that.”
John Couvrette, a leader of the recall committee, said he has known Blain for 20 years, mostly through sports their children played.
“Tony’s behavior has been nothing if not consistent over the years,” Couvrette said. “He tries to manufacture a problem to come in and solve it.”
Couvrette praised Blain’s campaign and said his occupation as a physician and status as a member of the military were “a good story” for him.
“He worked really hard,” Couvrette said. “He walked the district and knocked on all the doors. Just that in itself gained him a lot of credibility.”
But he said he heard from some District 2 residents that Blain could be aggressive if challenged and intimidated some women during his visits.
Blain will be remembered for the emotional toll he left on the city, Couvrette said.
“He stopped good people from doing their jobs,” he said.
Blain resigned from the council in a Nov. 5 email to the city, saying he was unable to fulfill his duties because he is an active Army Reserve doctor. He did not mention the recall election.
“My wife always tells me, ‘Do what brings you joy,’ and although being on Council is noble, it definitely has never brought me joy or fulfillment,” Blain wrote. “You have my promise I will never again seek any public office and I will never again attend any future Poway City Council meetings.”
However, Blain still faces possible consequences from his time in office.
The San Diego County district attorney’s office filed five criminal charges against him Oct. 24, including felony charges of perjury, asking for a bribe by a member of a legislative body, soliciting a bribe and destruction or removal of public records, plus a misdemeanor charge of petty theft pertaining to the removal of a campaign sign.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 12.
The City Council is set to decide Dec. 16 when to schedule the special election for Blain’s replacement. If it does so by Dec. 20, the election would be held April 14, Fenstermacher said. If the date is set after Dec. 20, the election would take place June 2, the day of the statewide primary election, Fenstermacher said.
City staff members and officials remain a little gun-shy, Hazeltine said.
“It’s a time to heal, and that’s what we’re going to work on,” he said. “Our staff deserves council members with credibility who can hit the ground running [and] respect us.”
Vaus said he’s ready to move forward with the city’s business.
“It’s like the circus has left town and the grown-ups can get back to governing,” Vaus said.
“As much as the last year taught us that one person can create a whole lot of turbulence, we also saw that Poway won’t be knocked off course,” the mayor said. “People step up and handle challenges, however big or small. I am proud to be part of the community.”