Charles Calvin Evans was a real estate agent and Fresno mayor for 364 days from April 22, 1957, to April 21, 1958. As of 2020, Evans term as mayor of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

is the shortest term not resulting from succession appointment in the city's history. C. Cal Evans was born May 23, 1905, to Elijah Charles Evans and Sarah Elizabeth McConnaughey. Evans was the third of four children for father Elijah and ninth of ten children for mother Sarah who previously was widowed. Before age 5, Evans and his family had moved west to

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino is adjacent to Chino ...

where he was raised. Evans moved to Fresno in 1936 and became a real estate and insurance agent selling primarily residential properties.

Political career

In April 1953, Evans was elected to the Fresno City commission. Under a

City commission government City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissione ...

, each council commissioner was responsible for other departments for the city and roles were distributed by individual seats. As Fresno grew to over 100,000 residents, the city commission system was being taxed by the amount of requests for commissioners had for each of their multiple departments. Shortly after taking office in 1953, Evans and the city commission set out on creating the

Municipal charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

that would allow for a

Council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council govern ...

with a city manager that had department heads for each department that answered to the city manager and ultimately the city council. In April 1957, Evans ran and was elected mayor. As mayor under City commission government, the mayor was responsible for public safety which included police, fire, and medical services. Evans term was noted for the physical adoption, creation, and public vote of the updated municipal charter which evolved the Fresno City Commission into the Fresno City Council. During this time, Evans was embroiled in controversy when Fresno Police Chief H. R. Morton accused him of inhibiting the vice squad in combating

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

throughout Fresno This came to light in an investigative report by

The Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a daily newspaper serving Fresno, California, and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's central San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's newspapers. I ...

that noted that Evans had even gone so far as to suggest controlled prostitution. Further details revealed prostitution was expanding on a massive scale to the point that Fresno was described as a "wide open city" in which vice went unchecked. Evans denied that prostitution was occurring at all in Fresno. This resulted in a commission inquiry in December 1957 as to the situation of prostitution and vice. On April 8, 1958, the Fresno voters were asked to vote for the new councilmembers, mayor, and adopt the new city charter. Mayor C. Cal Evans lost to Arthur Selland in a field of eight candidates.

Post career

Evans returned to real estate business after losing the mayoral election. Evans voiced support for 1964 California Proposition 14 which nullified the Rumford Fair Housing Act by attempting to re-legalize discrimination by allowing "absolute discretion" in whether the landlord or property owner may or may not allow a real estate sale to go through.Cal. Const. art. I, § 26 dopted November 3, 1964, and repealed November 5, 1974 Voters approved this statewide and in Fresno until the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

and the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled it unconstitutional.

Death

Evans died April 24, 1971, of a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, C. Cal 1905 births 1971 deaths Mayors of Fresno, California