John K. Evans III (born October 31, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served on the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

from 1991 to 2020 before resigning due to numerous ethics violations. Evans served as the chairman of the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) until its ethics committee found he violated conflict of interest rules. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he represented Ward 2 of Washington, D.C. from May 1991 to January 2020, making him the

D.C. Council The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

's longest-serving lawmaker. He ran for Mayor in 1998 and 2014, but lost in the Democratic primary both times.

Early life and education

John K. Evans III was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, the son of a florist and a school teacher. He received an economics degree with honors (

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1975, and a J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1978. He began practicing law in Washington, D.C. at the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

in the Division of Enforcement.

Career

Evans was elected to the D.C. Council in 1991 in a special election to replace John A. Wilson, who had run for council chairman and won. He was sworn in on May 13, 1991. He had previously served as a member of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B in Dupont Circle. Evans was elected to serve as chairman of the ANC from 1989 to 1990. He was the Councilmember for Ward 2 from 1991 to 2020, which included

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

, Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, Sheridan-Kalorama, Foggy Bottom, the West End, Georgetown,

Burleith Burleith is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bordered by 35th Street NW to the east, Reservoir Road NW and the historic Georgetown district to the south, Whitehaven Park to the north, and Glover Archbold Park to the west ...

, Hillandale, and much of Downtown Washington (including the White House, the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

, and the

U.S. Capitol Building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

). On the D.C. Council, Evans served as chairman of the council's Committee on Finance and Revenue until 2019 when he was removed following ethics investigations. During his time on the council, Evans authored D.C.'s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) legislation. Evans was a delegate at every

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

from 1992 to 2016, as well as D.C. Co-Chair of the 2004 Howard Dean presidential campaign, the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Bill Clinton presidential campaigns, the

2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign The 2012 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on April 4, 2011, when Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president On September 5, 2012, he again became the nominee of the ...

and the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. He was a Presidential Elector for the District of Columbia in 1992, 2004, and 2016. He also served as D.C. Democratic Party treasurer from 1988 to 1991, Board Chairman for the

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is an independent, nonprofit association where area leaders address regional issues affecting the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. Metropolitan Washington Council ...

in 1995, and was elected Democratic National Committeeman for the District on the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

in 2018. Evans first ran for mayor in 1998, coming in third behind

Anthony A. Williams Anthony Allen Williams (born July 28, 1951) is an American politician who was the fifth mayor of the District of Columbia, for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. His predecessor had served twice, as the second and fourth mayor. Williams had previously ...

and fellow Councilmember

Kevin P. Chavous Kevin Pernell Chavous (born May 17, 1956) is an American lawyer, author, education reform activist, and former Democratic Party politician in Washington, D.C., in the United States. He served as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia ...

. Evans launched his second campaign for mayor on June 8, 2013. By December 10, his campaign had raised over $1,000,000, making him the top fundraising candidate and the first to break the million-dollar mark."Evans Surpasses 1 Million Mark, Leads Pack In Mayoral Fundraising"
DCist. On January 27, the campaign had turned in more than 10,000 petition signatures, the largest collection of signatures by a mayoral candidate in the 2014 race. Evans finished in fourth place with 4,039 votes.

Ethics investigations

Evans has faced multiple ethics investigations, including using his position on the WMATA Board of Directors for personal gain. Other investigations found Evans took payments from EagleBank, Colonial Parking, Wilco Construction, Exelon, and other companies with business before the D.C. Council and WMATA. A federal grand jury investigation of Evans' business relationships included an FBI raid of Evans' residence in June 2019. In August 2019, the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA) found that there was "substantial evidence" that Evans violated rules restricting officials from using their offices for private gains. The ethics board fined him $20,000. At the conclusion of the investigation he received an additional fine in May 2020 for $35,000, the largest ever levied by the agency, for violating the council's code of conduct regarding conflicts of interest. In 2022, a spokesperson for the DC Office of Attorney General said that Evans had paid off the $55,000 he owed in fines ahead of schedule. The US Attorney's office announced later that year that the federal investigation had concluded with no criminal charges. After reviewing the findings of a Council-funded investigation, all twelve other Councilmembers recommended his expulsion in December 2019. Before a final expulsion vote could be held, he announced his resignation. Ten days after leaving his seat on January 17, 2020, he filed paperwork to run in the special election to replace him as well as in the primary for the next regular election, a move condemned by all of his former Council colleagues. Evans finished seventh in the Democratic Primary, garnering 3.8% of the vote. Evans has been criticized for using his constituent service funds to purchase tickets to sporting events. '' The Washington Post'' calculated that Evans had spent $135,897 on sporting events and directed $101,564 toward charitable organizations over the previous decade. Evans explained that, as a major advocate of local sports, he used funds for the benefit of

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization In 2015, Evans used his constituent services fund to reimburse himself for a $50 parking ticket. In 2016, the Council approved a $20,000 increase to the funding limits of constituent services funds at Evans' request.

Other employment

During his time on the D.C. Council, Evans' outside employment includes work as an insurance executive for Central Benefits Mutual Insurance Co., as an of counsel attorney at the

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

law firm from 2001 until 2015, and earlier as a partner with the firm

BakerHostetler BakerHostetler is an American law firm founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I, and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. History , the firm was ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in the ...

. In October 2015, Evans became Counsel to the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. He resigned from the firm in November 2017. In 2016, Evans formed a company called NSE Consulting, using a prominent lobbyist as the firm's registered agent. Among the clients of NSE Consulting were development and investment firms Willco and EastBanc and the parent company of Colonial Parking, all of whom stood to benefit from legislation Evans introduced. Facing federal scrutiny and calls for his resignation, Evans announced he would no longer pursue outside income and outside consulting. In March 2019, he renewed the business registration for NSE Consulting, claiming he was following advice of counsel. In 2018, the

D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability DC, D.C., D/C, Dc, or dc may refer to: Places * Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), the capital and the federal territory of the United States * Bogotá, Distrito Capital, the capital city of Colombia * Dubai City, as distinct from the ...

opened an investigation into Evans's dealings with digital sign company Digi Media, to determine whether Evans had violated the council's code of conduct by lobbying on the company's behalf. Evans denies violating ethics rules. In December 2018, the ethics board suspended the inquiry because of an ongoing law enforcement investigation. In September 2018, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena for documents relating to the matter. In March 2019, the investigation was expanded to include Evans' relationship with several large D.C. businesses and lobbying firms. Evans was reprimanded by a unanimous council motion in March 2019 for using his D.C. Council staff and email to solicit business from law firms that lobby the city. Resisting calls to remove him from Chair of the Finance and Revenue Committee, Chairman Phil Mendelson stripped him of oversight of

Events DC Events DC is the official convention, sports and entertainment authority for the District of Columbia. Events DC is a quasi-public company based in Washington, D.C. that owns and manages the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Entertainment & ...

and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Evans apologized and claimed that he had stopped outside consulting. Following further revelations that Evans had violated ethics rules during his time as Chairman of WMATA, the Council removed him from Committee leadership and reached a split vote about whether to remove him from all committee assignments. As revelations about Evans' outside employment grew, calls for his resignation from the D.C. Council followed. In May 2019, a recall campaign was launched by local activist

Adam Eidinger Adam Eidinger (born 1973) is a Washington D.C. businessman and cannabis rights activist, known for his role in spearheading Initiative 71, which legalized cannabis in the District of Columbia in 2015. Early life Eidinger was born in Pittsburgh ...

. Other activists launched a website titled "Sack Jack" calling for his resignation and detailing the ethics charges. In July 2019,

David Grosso David Grosso (born September 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician. He is a former at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia who lives in Brookland. A native Washingtonian, he graduated from Earlham College and Georget ...

was the first member of the D.C. Council to call for Evans' resignation. The Council commissioned a report by a D.C. law firm, which found multiple instances when Evans took official actions which benefited his clients, none of which were disclosed. House Republicans sought to delay markup o
House Resolution 51
which provides Statehood for the District of Columbia, due to concerns over Evans' ethics. Evans said that Republicans were citing his behavior because they lacked any valid reasons to oppose Statehood. On December 3, 2019, all of his Council colleagues voted to recommend his expulsion, the first time that step had been taken.

Political positions

Evans supports

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

. According to the '' Washington Blade'', "Evans has been the lead sponsor or co-sponsor of virtually every LGBT-supportive bill that has come before the legislative body." In 2009, Evans co-sponsored the bill that legalized same-sex marriage in D.C. The nation's capital became the first jurisdiction in the United States south of the Mason–Dixon line to allow same-sex couples to marry. Evans supported the construction of the

Verizon Center Verizon Center may refer to: * Verizon Center (Mankato, Minnesota), now Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, a multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota * Verizon Center (Washington, D.C.), now Capital One Arena See also *Verizon Arena, now Sim ...

, which opened in 1997 in his ward and became home to the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, and Washington Capitals as they moved from suburban Maryland to Downtown Washington. He played a key role in the negotiations that brought the Montreal Expos franchise to Washington, D.C., in 2005, and in the council's 2004 decision to finance a stadium for the Washington Nationals. In 2016, Evans stated that he opposed proposed legislation that would impose a cap on public funding for a new Wizards practice facility. In 2001, Evans introduced successful legislation to overturn a 1994 referendum that had limited members of the D.C. Council to two terms. Evans argued that by denying voters their choice of candidates, term limits were undemocratic. Evans has several times introduced legislation to ban Council involvement in the contract procurement process, a practice which Evans has described as "a recipe for mischief," and which the '' Washington Post'' said in 2015, "practically invites losing bidders and their lobbyists to attempt an end run." In July 2012, Evans sponsored legislation to delay the direct election of D.C.'s attorney general. Voters had previously approved a charter amendment making the post an elected, rather than appointed, position. Evans expressed concern that the city was not ready for the scheduled 2014 vote, noting among other things that no candidates had emerged for the position. In June 2014, a federal appeals court invalidated the legislation and ordered that the vote take place as scheduled. In 2013, Evans co-sponsored introduced emergency measures to keep application-based services like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar street legal. Evans favors the return of the Washington Football Team to the District of Columbia, and has said that neither the personality of the team's owner, Daniel Snyder, nor the previous controversy over the team's name should be relevant to that effort. As he explained, "whatever it's called, whoever owns it is not relevant, because that will change over time." In 2016, the D.C. Council considered legislation that would provide paid family and medical leave to employees in the District of Columbia and fund the benefits by new taxes on all District businesses. Evans opposed the new tax, calling the proposed legislation an "absurdity" because most of the benefits would be received by residents of neighboring Maryland and Virginia, not those of the District, whose businesses would be taxed. As an alternative, Evans co-introduced legislation which would have afforded the same paid leave, but in lieu of a tax, would have required private employers to pay employees for the time off. Although supported by the Mayor and major business groups, the alternative failed, and the original proposal passed the council by a vote of 9–4.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Evans has twice served as the primary director from the District of the Columbia on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), first from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2015 through June 2019. He served as chairman of the board three times (1994, 1997, and 2016). In 2016, Evans advocated reform of the agency and additional funding from the federal government. In November 2016, Evans urged that Metro's challenges should be addressed by a federal takeover, in an arrangement akin to the

control board Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

that rescued the District from financial crisis in the 1990s. In 2016, Evans stated that Metro's 16-member board was cumbersome and unworkable. Evans also cautioned that establishment of a control board would face major legal and political challenges, and acknowledged that the proposal was unlikely to win much backing. He sought the investigation of Laz Parking, a WMATA contractor and competitor of Colonial Parking, a NSE consulting client that was paying him $50,000 a year. While serving as Chairman of WMATA, he simultaneously was hired by 10 firms that had business with WMATA, receiving a total undisclosed payment of $325,000 annually. In May 2019, Evans said he would not serve another term as Chairman of WMATA. Evans initially claimed that he decided not to seek reelection as chairman voluntarily. Following the disclosure of a 20-page memo that identified 16 different ways in which Evans violated either the board's ethics code or the Metro Compact, the founding charter of WMATA, Evans said he had a poor recollection of the events and was focused on how he could update his disclosures. Maryland Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

said that he was too ethically compromised and repeatedly called for him to step down from the board entirely. In a June 2019 letter, Evans said that he would no longer serve on Metro's board following the completion of his term as chairman. It was also revealed that Evans attempted to pressure Metro General Counsel Patricia Lee and board corporate secretary Jennifer Green Ellison in order to conceal the ethics violation.

Committees

Evans served on the following committees at the time of his resignation: * Committee on Business and Economic Development * Committee on Government Operations *Committee on Transportation and the Environment

Personal life

Evans married Noel Soderberg in 1994. The couple had three children together, triplets. Soderberg died in September 2003 after a long battle with breast cancer. Evans married Michele Seiver in 2010. They split in 2014 and ultimately divorced. Evans is a member of the Christ Church in Georgetown and the

Foundry United Methodist Church Foundry United Methodist Church is a historic congregation of the United Methodist Church, located on 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C., and founded in 1814. History Henry Foxall, the prominent owner of the Columbia Foundry (besides the church, al ...

in Dupont Circle, for which he served as Chair of the annual AIDS fundraiser from 2001 to 2003. Evans has been frequently criticized in the media and by the public for violating city parking regulations with his personal vehicle. In 2014, he issued a statement apologizing for extended parking in front of a fire hydrant, and in 2018, he was filmed telling a bystander "if I park illegally, that opens up a spot for you" while also accusing the bystander of harassment and threatening to "call somebody" to address the situation.

Election history

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Jack 1953 births Living people 2004 United States presidential electors 2016 United States presidential electors 21st-century American politicians Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Members of the Council of the District of Columbia People associated with BakerHostetler People from Dupont Circle People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Washington, D.C., Democrats Washington, D.C., government officials Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni People associated with Squire Patton Boggs