Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans said he will not seek reelection as chair of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board of Directors at a board meeting Thursday.
Evans’ term as board chair ends June 30 and he will remain on the Metro board representing the District, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The decision comes after the Metro board launched an ethics probe into Evans March 4 following a report from The Post that Evans improperly used his position as chairman in an email seeking private business.
Evans said he chose to depart because it was “time to rotate [the chairmanship] to a different jurisdiction,” according to The Post. Evans has served as Metro board chair for more than three years after his unanimous election by the board to the position in 2016.
Evans later told reporters his decision was unrelated to the ethics probe, The Post wrote.
Board member Clarence Crawford, who led the board’s probe of Evans, said the matter has been “resolved” and “closed,” according to The Post. Crawford declined to say whether there was a link between the probe’s closure and Evans’ announcement, The Post reported.
“We have concluded our investigation,” Crawford said. “We did a thorough review. We took our time. We looked at everything. We have the ability to close the matter when it is resolved, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Evans declined to respond to Crawford’s comments, citing the need to remain silent about internal matters, The Post wrote.
In March, the D.C. Council reprimanded Evans for using his position as a councilmember to secure private business deals. A federal grand jury issued a subpoena for documents related to the issue earlier this year, and the D.C. Board of Elections has since allowed the campaign for a recall election for Evans to continue.
Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Patrick Kennedy and former Obama staffer Jordan Grossman have announced they will challenge Evans in 2020 for his position on the council.
Evans did not return a request for comment.
