Jack Evans To Step Down As Metro Board Chairman: Report

WASHINGTON, DC -- D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans has decided to resign as Metro board chairman as an ongoing probe tries to determine if he violated ethics rules, according to a report.

The Washington Post's Robert McCartney reports that Evans made the announcement that he wouldn't seek reelection as chair when his term ends June 30 "in passing" at a Metro board meeting. He has been in that role for more than three years.

The move comes after the Metro board directed its ethics officer earlier this year to investigate Evans over allegations that he used his powerful position on the Metro board to get business for his private consulting work.

McCartney tweeted that Metro has closed its ethics investigation, the same day Evans announced he wouldn't seek reelection.

Metro Board member Clarence Crawford, who headed the investigation, repeatedly declines to say whether there's a link between the ethics probe and Evans's decision not to seek reelection as board chair. He will only say the inquiry has been "closed" and "resolved."
— Robert McCartney (@McCartneyWP) May 23, 2019

The D.C. Council formally reprimanded Evans in March. The scandal isn't over for him, as he faces a recall effort to remove him from his position as the council member representing Ward 2, which he has represented since 1991. Ward 2 includes Georgetown and a large portion of downtown D.C.