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Steve Vaus launches campaign to be Poway’s next mayor

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By Steve Dreyer

Poway City Councilman Steve Vaus on Tuesday tossed his cowboy hat into the ring to become the city’s next mayor.

“I’ve been on the City Council since 2012 and I’d be the first to admit things in Poway are pretty good, but we can be better,” Vaus said in a prepared press release and in a campaign video. “We need a mayor with innovative ideas, with the time and willingness to personally connect with the community. Then Poway can go from good to great.”

The election will be held Nov. 4.

The long-expected announcement will mean that Mayor Don Higginson will be facing a member of his own council who has a “safe” seat, meaning that if Vaus loses, he will still have two years left on his first term. Higginson, who has served on the council for 27 years, is expected to announced for re-election in the near future.

Vaus and his wife, Corrie, own VausMedia, specializing in video and audio marketing services. He is also a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, performing songs for children under the name “Buck Howdy.” A 21-year Poway resident, he and his wife have two children.

Vaus first stepped into the city’s political spotlight when he organized the successful recall election against former Councilwoman Betty Rexford. As a councilmember, he serves as an alternate board member on the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority. Prior to being elected, he was a former chairman of the Poway Budget Review Committee, executive director of the Poway Community Leadership Institute and chairman of the Poway Citizens Abuse Task Force. Over the past year Vaus has organized the Poway Secret Service, where community volunteers perform small service projects after text alerts are sent out. Each week thousands of Poway residents receive his emailed newsletter. He also holds a monthly coffee where residents can communicate with him.

Higginson, a corporate attorney, was first elected to the council 1986. He was the city’s elected mayor between 1992 and 1998 and returned to the post in 2009.

Vaus’s video announcement can be found at www.votevaus.com.

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