Poway Councilwoman Takes Seat After Besting 9 Contenders

Kathy McIntyre went to work as a Poway city councilwoman only seconds after she was sworn in Tuesday night, but she acknowledges that she didn’t make waves, or even a ripple, at her debut.

The 34-year-old housewife and mother was chosen for appointment over the two top runners-up in the Nov. 6 council election--Allan Sugarman and Vicki Lazowski--and seven other hopefuls who were interviewed Monday by the four-man council.

“I voted on a few things Tuesday night, on appointments of other council members to committees and on continuance of some matters, but I abstained on anything of substance,” McIntyre said. “I just didn’t have a chance to study the issues.”

But she has a few opinions, based on years of participation on community boards and committees during her nine years in Poway. She plans to become an advocate for regional cooperation “on issues that extend beyond our boundaries,” such as migrant workers’ issues, water conservation and growth controls.

“There are major issues that the city has under control and there are others that are a little more urgent, that we need to address immediately,” McIntyre said. She listed traffic congestion as the “No. 1 concern in this community.” She said she believes that unclogging congested Poway arteries “would do much to improve the quality of life in this city.”

McIntyre was nominated for appointment by Mayor Jan Goldsmith, who called her a “strong, committed and independent candidate” for the post that became vacant when Goldsmith was elevated from his council seat to the city’s first voter-elected mayor Nov. 6.

McIntyre and her husband, Paul, have four children: Kristen, 11; Emily, 8; Adam, 5, and MaryAnn, 2. A fifth child is due in February.

The new councilwoman has been director of the Foundation for the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in 1988, chairman of the 1987 Poway Budget Review Committee, member of the 1984 Poway Budget Review Committee and a participant in the city’s General Plan hearings in 1982-83. She has also been active in the PTA, Boy Scouts of America, neighborhood action groups and the Mormon Church.