- The Washington Times - Thursday, January 30, 2020

The D.C. Council sent out a joint statement collectively condemning Jack Evans’ decision to run again for the Ward 2 Council seat following his resignation for ethics violations.

“All of us agreed to expel Jack Evans from the DC Council after an exhaustive investigation found numerous violations of our Code of Conduct,” Chairman Phil Mendeson, at-large Democrat, wrote in a statement from his personal email signed by all the council members. “Mr. Evans resigned before we could formally vote to expel him last week. His decision to run for Ward 2 Councilmember again, which we do not and cannot support, shows a willful and arrogant disregard for ethics and is not in the best interests of the District. It is time to rebuild the public’s trust in the Council, which is why it is time to move on and focus on the issues that matter most to the residents and businesses of our city.”

Mr. Evans filed to run for reelection just days after his resignation letter took effect for both the special election, which will fill the seat he left vacant with his resignation, and for the Democratic primary.

The former Ward 2 Council member submitted his letter of resignation earlier this month just minutes before the council was to hold a hearing on his expulsion.

The council recommended unanimously to expel Mr. Evans after their investigation found that he violated the council’s conflict of interest provision close to 30 times by using his official position to benefit clients of his private consulting firm.

• Sophie Kaplan can be reached at skaplan@washingtontimes.com.

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