DA files five criminal charges against Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges Friday against Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain.

Blain was charged in San Diego Superior Court with four felony counts of perjury, asking for a bribe by a member of a legislative body, soliciting a bribe and destruction or removal of public records, along with misdemeanor petty theft. The incidents occurred between September 2024 and July 25, 2025, according to the complaint.

Blain could not immediately be reached for comment.

His attorney, Robert Salgado, did not respond to an email Friday afternoon.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, who has been a vocal critic of Blain, said he was not surprised by the “very serious felony charges.”

“And while this is a difficult moment for our city, Poway’s commitment to integrity and transparency will not waver,” Vaus said. “We’ll let the justice system do its work, and we’ll stay focused on serving our residents with the honesty and respect they deserve.”

The charges come about a week before a Nov. 4 special election in which voters in Poway’s District 2 will decide if Blain should be recalled.

The Recall Tony Blain effort is being led by former council members Anita Edmondson and John Mullin in addition to local businessman John Couvrette. The committee has made several allegations against Blain related to public records violations, bullying and harassment.

Couvrette, who has lived in Poway for 29 years and is in Blain’s district, said he expected the DA to file charges, but was surprised by the timing since it is so close to the election. He thought charges would come after Nov. 4, he said.

“I knew what he would be charged with, because I knew what he did … but they usually hold off until after an election,” Couvrette said. “We pushed the DA six months ago, but were told no comment.”

Blain has said he ran for the City Council to be a voice for “everyday people” after he saw a need for transparency and accountability. The recall effort is not about wrongdoing, but about his efforts to speak up and challenge the status quo, he has said.

Blain, who was elected to the council last November, has been under investigation by the District Attorney’s Office for months and has been censured twice by the council.

In the DA’s perjury count announced Friday, Blain is accused of making a false statement in a sworn complaint to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission on Sept. 24, 2024. “He falsely represented … that he was a current city councilman in the City of Poway prior to having been elected to the position,” the DA’s complaint states.

The complaint also alleges that Blain asked for a bribe around Dec. 22, 2024 to Jan.  9, 2025 when he agreed to vote in favor of appointing Councilmember Peter De Hoff as deputy mayor in exchange for De Hoff’s vote to hold a special election.

During that same period, Blain is alleged to have offered or agreed to receive a bribe with the understanding that his official vote and judgment would be influenced, according to the document.

Blain came under fire at the Jan. 21 council meeting over accusations of bribery and extortion over several emails he sent, which were included in the agenda. In one email to De Hoff, Blain threatened De Hoff with a recall effort if he did not vote in favor of a special election for the open seat.

In another, he said he would vote yes for De Hoff to become deputy mayor in exchange for De Hoff voting “yes” for a special election.

De Hoff, Mayor Vaus and others said Blain’s emails appeared to violate state law, which prohibits bribery to public officials in exchange for votes.

“I cannot see this as anything other than vote trading and extortion by a public official,” De Hoff said at the meeting. “This is unprecedented and unacceptable.”

On Feb. 4, the council voted 4-0 to censure Blain amid allegations of vote trading, threatening recalls against colleagues and attempting to use law enforcement to silence critics. Blain did not attend the meeting.

It was the first censure of a council member in the city’s 45-year history, according to Vaus.

Prosecutors also alleged Friday that between December 2024 and September 2025, Blain destroyed or concealed city communications that were public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

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 San Diego Superior Court alleges Blain has refused to produce requested public records from his private accounts, apps and devices and has deleted public records from those same sources and asked others to delete messages from him.

The city said the suit followed months of attempts to obtain voluntary compliance in response to numerous public records requests for Blain’s messages on private email accounts, text messaging and other applications, which are all subject to disclosure if discussing city business.

The misdemeanor petty theft count filed by the DA alleges that Blain on July 18 unlawfully took campaign signs belonging to another party.

Couvrette said in a recent email that Blain’s behavior has resulted in “threatened lawsuits by the Poway city manager and city attorney as a result of the harassment, continued abuse of public records requests digging for dirt against his own manufactured opponents, threats against private citizens that have resulted in complaints filed with the Sheriff’s Department, along with many other adversarial attacks.”

Having known Blain for 20 years, Couvrette said he never thought Blain was the right person to be on the Poway council, but acknowledged he had worked hard to be elected.

“The behavior, how Tony Blain conducted himself was the true rallying call for folks in District 2 and all of Poway,” he said. “He has had a severe impact on the city.”

Blain has no written rebuttal in the voter information pamphlet for the upcoming election stating his opposition to the recall.

Vaus said he had a message for residents of District 2.

“There’s still a job to do — making their voice heard in the recall election is now more important than ever,” he said.