This week’s Poway City Council resulted in a vote to appoint Christopher Pikus to an open seat — along with a heated exchange over the conduct of Councilmember Tony Blain, who has been accused of trying to bribe and extort his colleagues in his push for a special election.
Six candidates had applied for the appointment Pikus was granted. He will serve until his term ends after the November 2026 general election.
While most speakers at the meeting supported a special election for the open seat, the council voted 3-2 Tuesday to appoint Pikus, a master engineer at Broadcom and a former member of the Poway Budget Review Committee. New Councilmembers Jenny Maeda and Blain voted no.
Blain has come under fire in recent days over threats he had made against colleague Peter De Hoff in several emails, which were included in the agenda. In one, 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 Steve Vaus and others said Blain’s emails appear 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. “This is unprecedented and unacceptable.”
Speaker Yuri Bohlen said the process of deciding between an appointment or special election was “overshadowed by the unethical behavior of Tony Blain.” Bohlen asked him to resign.
In an interview before the meeting, Blain said the accusations against him were “all politically motivated, false lies.”
“There’s nothing going on except for my attempt to be cooperative and work with City Council members,” Blain told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
He didn’t comment directly on the accusations during the meeting.
Vaus said before the meeting that “the appropriate steps have been taken” regarding Blain. “I have full confidence in our legal system and our (district attorney’s) office,” he said.
Later, De Hoff made a motion to discuss formally censuring Blain at the Feb. 4 City Council meeting, which was backed by other council members.
The open council seat has been a topic of controversy since Councilmember Brian Pepin, who represents District 1, announced in late November that he would resign to focus on his political consulting firm.
But the council voted unanimously Dec. 3 to replace Pepin by appointment instead of holding a special election, deciding it would be quicker and less expensive.
In another action Tuesday, the council voted 3-2 to name De Hoff deputy mayor. Blain and Maeda were opposed.
In one of his earlier emails to De Hoff, Blain had suggested he would vote in favor contingent on De Hoff voting for a special election.
“I might be persuaded to vote Yes on you for Deputy Mayor also if you vote Yes on Special Election, since that would show you are willing to work with new Councilmembers,” he had written in a Dec. 22 email.
Near the end of the meeting, City Manager Chris Hazeltine told Blain that he has filed a complaint with the city’s Human Resources Department about his actions, which he said included “bullying, threatening, intimidating and retaliatory behavior.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher vividly echoed those accusations.
He said Blain had threatened to fire him a number of times and had sent him multiple emails demanding his resignation, even though Fenstermacher said he had done his job and answered his questions “in great detail.”
“You are a bully. You’ve been harassing me for months, and I’ve tried to be professional,” Fenstermacher said. “This is enough.”
He said he had considered resigning.
“You are a walking liability that has consistently ignored my advice on numerous important issues, and I take no responsibility for the legal trouble you will inevitably get this city into and have already gotten yourself into,” he said.
Staff writer Kristen Taketa contributed to this report.