The City of Poway has taken the unprecedented step of suing a councilmember to force compliance with the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and to the stop the destruction of public records in violation of state law. A lawsuit was filed against Councilmember Tony Blain as a last resort to prevent significant liability for the city.
This case follows months of attempts by the city to obtain voluntary compliance in response to numerous Public Records Requests (PRRs) seeking Councilmember Blain’s messages on private email accounts, text messaging, and other applications, which are all subject to disclosure if discussing city business.
The purpose of the CPRA is to give the public access to information that enables them to monitor the functioning of their government. It covers “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.”
Although Councilmember Blain has denied discussing city business on any platform other than his city email account and stated that he has no records to provide, the city has documentation of Councilmember Blain openly conducting city business with city staff using private email accounts. The city also has documentation of the councilmember admitting in writing to deleting messages on his private accounts that would classify as public records.
The city has obtained public records in response to the PRRs from people he communicated with using two private email accounts, text messages, and the encrypted Signal app. The records document the councilmember conducting city business, as well as the councilmember’s requests for people to delete his text messages and instead use the encrypted Signal messaging application where “[the City] cannot access it.”
An outside law firm with no vested interest was engaged to analyze the documented information and determined the case was worthy of being pursued to prevent significant liability for the city, said City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher.
“I anticipate Councilmember Blain will call this case ‘political lies,’ a common refrain he has used over the last four months when faced with proof of his unlawful or unwise conduct,” Fenstermacher said. “Unfortunately for him, the complaint is based on direct quotes from Councilmember Blain, including his text message conversations with people who provided information in compliance with state law when he refused.”
Fenstermacher said that the discovery process in this matter will likely include a deposition, in which Councilmember Blain will need to answer for his own written words under oath and subject to the penalty of perjury, where he can no longer make outlandish claims without proof or consequence.
“It’s outrageous that taxpayer dollars must be spent to compel a council member to follow the law," Mayor Steve Vaus said. "If Mr. Blain were truly committed to serving the public, rather than his own political ambitions, this situation could have been avoided. The hypocrisy is clear: someone who campaigned on honesty and transparency deleted public records and encouraged others to do the same. That’s not public service—it’s a violation of public trust.”