Item 15 - Public CorrespondenceMay 23, 2023
Poway City Council
13325 Civic Center Drive
Poway, CA 92064
City Council Member and City Clerk,
RECEIVED
JUM O 6 2023
BY: .(!J;( ...... l~..f.':.. ..... .
I am a Poway Resident and don't agree with having the Lifetime Fitness facility
proposed for The Farm project. I don't believe this huge commercial building
belongs in the Farm Community -our neighborhood. Currently the facility
proposed is over 10 times the size of the promised building.
Please let me know how I can further help in addressing the situation and how
to best follow up with the city.
I am requesting that this letter be documented in the next meeting packet.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
{j~~C-_
Penny Berman
17209 St Andrews Drive
Poway, CA 92064
From:Tony Blain
To:Steve Vaus; Brian Pepin; Peter De Hoff; Caylin Frank; City Clerk; Fenstermacher, Alan
Subject:June 6 & 13 meetings
Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 5:36:40 PM
EXTERNAL EMAIL
Poway Mayor, Council Members, City Clerk, and Attorney,
I am on 2 week active duty California Army Reserve National Guard orders until June
17 and I am requesting no Poway City Council action on District 2 Council Member
appointment or selection until I return.
Very respectfully,
COL Arthur “Tony” Blain
From:Phyllis Collins
To:City Clerk
Subject:Item 15
Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 11:08:09 AM
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EXTERNAL EMAIL
City Clerk,
We are 33 year residents of District 2. We feel choosing our City Council representative should be
our choice. Appointments are not politically or ethically good for our city government. The voters in
Districts 2 are fully capable of making their choice of who they want to represent them.
Howard & Phyllis Collins
16886 Saint Andrews Dr.
Poway, CA 92064
Sent from Mail for Windows
From:Sheila Cram
To:Brian Pepin; Caylin Frank; City Clerk; Peter De Hoff; Steve Vaus
Subject:Item 15
Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 3:03:50 PM
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EXTERNAL EMAIL
Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
As a former Mayoral staffer in the City of San Diego, I believe the action of appointing acouncil member to a vacated council seat is simply unjust.
Let the people vote!
Thank you,
Sheila Cram--
Sent from somewhere in Nirvana
From:DAN KRALL
To:Steve Vaus; Peter De Hoff; Caylin Frank; Brian Pepin; Carrie Gallagher
Subject:Filling Barry Leonard"s Seat
Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 9:56:01 PM
Attachments:District 2 Alternatives.pdf
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EXTERNAL EMAIL
Please find attached my comments regarding filling Barry Leonard's seat.
Regards,
Dan Krall
Please consider my input as you decide how to fill the vacancy on City Council opened by Barry Leonard’s
resignation.
Good, representative government is not an inexpensive proposition. The fact that the City may need to spend
between $175,000 and $300,000 to hold an election should not be considered a cost, but rather may be better
viewed as an investment in good government.
Immediate Appointment
Nothing seems to be further from good government than an immediate appointment of someone who has likely
had the ear of Council members immediately following Mr. Leonard’s announcement. An appointment without
a process seems totally irresponsible.
Make an Appointment by August 1, 2023
While better than an Immediate Appointment, it is still fraught with concerns. The City has been through this
process before, and has been criticized for appointing a new member rather than holding an election. Whether
those appointed members would have prevailed in a general election without having the “incumbent” status is
an unknown.
What has changed since those past two appointments is that District elections have been implemented by the
City. At the time of the prior appointments, all four sitting Council Members represented the entire City, and
the person being appointed represented the entire City. In today’s current situation, only one Council Member
(the Mayor) represents the entire City, while the other three members represent other Council Districts. While I
am sure the three non-District 2 Council members have the best interests of the entire City at heart, how are
they expected to decide who the best candidate is for District 2, when their first responsibility is to their own
District?
Special Election
The write-up by Mr. Fenstermacher seemed to lean heavily toward aiming for a March 5, 2024 election based on
the wording that “any special election called by the City Council after July 14, 2023 would fall on March 5, 2024.”
There was no mention of what it would take to have the election fall on a date prior to that, or what the date
would be (I would assume on November 7, 2023), other than a comment that the seat would be open for “at
least 4 months.” What is wrong with taking action to set the election on November 7, 2023, so that the
residents of District 2 have the opportunity to truly select a representative, rather than one who’s appointed by
the Council and becomes a de facto incumbent in a subsequent election? Having to wait an extra couple
months to have a representative elected and seated by the District 2 residents in November, rather than by an
appointment in August, seems that it could be a prudent way to proceed.
Regards,
Dan Krall
14223 Primrose Court
Poway
District 2
From:Karen
To:City Clerk; Steve Vaus; Caylin Frank; Peter De Hoff; Brian Pepin
Subject:6/6/23 council meeting item#15
Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 2:59:52 PM
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EXTERNAL EMAIL
Hello Council Members-Due to the resignation of Barry Leonard,the council must decide how to fill the vacant council
seat in D2. Please choose a special election and let the people of D2 decide who shouldrepresent them on the council. Their voices will be diminished by an appointment.
Sincerely,Karen Machamer, Poway resident.
City Clerl<'s Office
City of Poway
Item #15
Requesting the recusal of Councilmember De Hoff and Mayor Vaus for violations of SB 1439. Specially
for Peter De Hoff, accepting over $250 from council members and the mayor. For mayor Vaus, his
donation is a clear financial interest as defined.
Donations accepted:
9/22/22 Barry Leonard council
9/29/22 Steve Vaus Mayor
Barry Leonard announced his Resignation May 2, 2023, triggering Council business and the 30 day
repayment of $250 from Leonard as well as Vaus.
As of June 3, De Hoff had not returned the donations from the Leonard or Vaus as would be required to
continue. No public record shows this, as required by SB 1439. De Hoff needs to recuse himself from
any portion of item #15, and any future council vacancy discussion or items per SB 1439.
It should be noted that the donation isn't illegal, nor accepting it. However, once actions were triggered
by donors, Barry Leonard's resignation, the financial interest also became clear. Vaus recused himself
from council raise discussions last year, but has a financial interest by its very nature. Appointing or
discussions regarding appointing a council member who could vote on pay for council at any future
meeting represent a clear financial interest.
Peter De Hoff, the council, and the mayor uniquely represent many aspects covered by this law. As such,
the most important aspect is defined and covered by article 1, chapter 7, section 87100 which reads:
"A public official at any level of state or local government shall not make, participate in making, or in any
way attempt to use the public official's official position to influence a governmental decision in which the
official knows or has reason to know the official has a financial interest."
Both Mayor Vaus and Councilmember De Hoff need to recuse from this discussion and it should default
to an election.
From:Christine Vickers
To:Ernie Hoffman
Cc:Brian Pepin; City Clerk; Caylin Frank; Steve Vaus; Peter De Hoff
Subject:Re: June 6, 2023 Council Meeting, Item #15 D2 City Council Seat
Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 5:55:51 PM
EXTERNAL EMAIL
Not on your life! Haha, I’m only about 1 peg down on the Richter scale from Mark Betteker!
On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 2:51 PM Ernie Hoffman <erniedidit@gmail.com> wrote:YOU SHOULD RUN
Sent from my iPad. Ernie Hoffman
On Jun 5, 2023, at 12:25 PM, Christine Vickers <cvickersmail@gmail.com>
wrote:
Poway City Council Members,
With the recent vacancy of D2 City Council, please opt for filling the
vacant council seat in a special election, I would like to elect our own
representative to the D2 District in Poway.
Regards,
Christine Vickers
Poway D2 District Resident
--
Christine