Embattled Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain announced his resignation from his seat on Wednesday.
The announcement came the day after Poway residents voted to hold a recall election as Blain faces multiple felony charges.
City officials said Blain’s resignation would take effect immediately.
Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said in an emailed statement Wednesday that Blain’s resignation “comes on the heels of a crushing recall election defeat (but) rings hollow.
“He could have saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars had he resigned earlier,” the mayor said. “Coming now, it’s too little, too late.”
Blain was elected in November 2024 to represent residents in District 2 and his resignation comes the day after initial results provided by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters showed 80% of voters in his district supported a citizen-led recall ballot measure.
The Poway City Council will hold a special meeting at 11 a.m. Friday “to discuss the schedule and process for moving forward consistent with California state election code,” according to the city.
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.
According to a pro-recall spokeswoman, Blain “has proven himself time and again to be unfit to serve public office, so we know the case for recall is rock solid.”
He was charged with two counts of bribery, in addition to perjury and destruction or removal of a public record, according to a criminal complaint filed by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
The bribery counts against Blain, identified in the filing under his full name, Arthur Anthony Blain IV, have to do with allegations of vote trading to determine city council roles.
In the complaint, prosecutors accuse Blain of agreeing to vote in favor of appointing Councilmember Peter De Hoff as deputy mayor in exchange for “De Hoff’s vote in favor of holding a special election, rather than making an appointment, to fill a council seat vacancy.”
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.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
Updated 3 p.m. Nov. 5, 2025
