Man Behind Recall Fight Takes Home Grammy

Steve Vaus, aka 'Buck Howdy', behind drive to oust Poway city councilwoman

Less than 24 hours after winning a Grammy awardPoway resident Steve Vaus was marching into city hall with a group of volunteers from the Committee to Recall Betty Rexford.

The group turned over several stacks of paperwork to the Poway city clerk on Monday morning, including more than 7,000 signatures that were gathered since last October. The county registrar of voters must now validate 5,657 of those signatures to put the recall on the June ballot.

Vaus is the husband of Corrie Vaus, a contributor to NBCSandiego through one of its partner's, Channel 4 San Diego.

Rexford's opponents accuse her of abuse of power. The city of Poway had to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit in which Rexford was accused of trying to prevent neighbors from building on their properties. Another allegation accused her of demanding a fire truck be stationed outside her home during the 2003 Cedar Fire. Her husband denied the accusation.

As for Vaus, it has been a whirlwind 24 hours. On Sunday, he won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, beating out other nominees, included Edward Asner and an album dedicated to Nelson Mandella.

"As a professional recording artist, there is no higher honor than to win a Grammy," said Vaus. "As a citizen of Poway, there's no greater pleasure than helping other citizens to do something they believe is right and true."

Officials should know by March if there are enough valid signatures for the recall to go on the ballot.

A phone call and e-mail to Rexford for comment were not returned.
 

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