Vineyard joins Poway City Council race
By Steve Dreyer
Longtime Poway resident Gary Vineyard on Tuesday became the fourth announced candidate for the Nov. 6 City Council election.
Vineyard, 59, will be campaigning for one of two open seats on the council. The four-year terms of Jim Cunningham and Merrilee Boyack are expiring. Cunningham is running for a second term while Boyack is stepping down after two terms. Other declared candidates include Steve Vaus and Jeff Mangum.
Vineyard, who filed campaign committee organizational papers with the city clerk, is making his third try to be elected to the council. He declared in 1996 but withdrew to support Jay Goldby, who was elected. Two years later he placed third in a field of five candidates, collecting 2,925 votes.
He said he plans on running a full campaign with the intent to win and that much of it will be based on his belief that the current five-member council has too many lawyers — three — and needs someone with a “common sense, workingman’s approach” to local government. He also said that he feels the current council caters to special interests, although he declined to specify who or what those interests are. He said his campaign theme will be “Red, White and Blue, Vineyard’s for You.”
The candidate said he admires Councilman Dave Grosch and would like to see a council that included Vaus and himself as members.
Vineyard moved to Poway 28 years ago and has owned a succession of businesses. He currently owns Vinny’s Pool Service and Vineyard’s All-American BBQ. Previously, he owned AAA Muffler and Brake, the Longbranch Saloon and BBQ/Catering and Vineyard’s Tex/Mex BBQ.
After graduating from high school in Downey, he studied criminal justice at several colleges before joining the Army. Following his discharge he was a police officer for 10 years in South Gate before moving to Poway.
Vineyard is the past exalted ruler of the Poway Elks Club, a past chairman of the lodge’s trustees and a former “Elk of the Year.” He is a former member of the Poway Kiwanis Club, where he served as club treasurer. Other affiliations, past and present, include the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Poway Rodeo Committee and the Poway Chamber of Commerce, where he served on the Governmental Affairs Committee.
While leading the local Elks Lodge, Vineyard established the “Let Kids Have a Ball” program, where playground balls were collected and distributed to Valley Elementary and Garden Road Elementary schools and to local youth leagues.
Vineyard’s father is a former mayor and councilmember in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif.
Vineyard has been married to Poway native Chris Vineyard for 19 years. The couple live on Wanesta Drive and have two children. His wife is a three-time world champion over-the-line softball player.
The official candidate filing period will run from July 16 to Aug. 10, but will be extended another five days in the likely event that Boyack does not run for re-election.
