The challengers hoping to unseat Jack Evans in Ward 2 have been calling for his resignation for some time now, citing his ongoing ethics scandal.

But Monday marks the first time that one of Evans’ colleagues on the D.C. Council is calling for him to step down.

At-large Councilmember David Grosso says that Evans “should resign because it will save us all a lot of headache … What’s going on right now is drip, drip, drip. Jack is telling us one thing, and then a week later we find out it’s not true. Jack could do us all a favor and just resign and let the council regain some of its standing again with the public.”

Grosso released a statement after the Washington Post published a story that outlines the connections between Evans and local lobbyist William Jarvis, who Evans has described as a “longtime friend.” Jarvis helped Evans establish NSE Consulting, which has been at the center of the Evans pay-to-play allegations. While Evans has repeatedly said that Jarvis’ role at NSE was limited to registering the business, the Post reported that Jarvis provided legal advice and helped negotiate contracts for the firm.

Jarvis also lobbies on behalf of Intralot, a company involved in the D.C. Council’s sport betting legislation. Under a $215 million contract that the council is voting on this Tuesday, Intralot would be the sole source provider of sports gambling in the District. Evans pushed for the council to forgo its regular competitive bidding process to grant Intralot the contract to manage online and mobile sports betting in D.C.

Grosso tells DCist he received a call from Jarvis last year about sports wagering and “thought it was suspicious when, later that fall, Jack introduced the bill.”

The D.C. Council is also holding a vote on Tuesday to remove Evans as the chairman of the powerful Finance and Revenue Committee, which he’s headed for about two decades. His colleagues appeared unconvinced by protestations from Evans last week, who maintained that they should wait until the conclusion of a federal investigation before stripping him of his chairmanship.

Evans appears to recognize that his colleagues will vote to remove him as chairman of the Finance Committee. “I understand my responsibility as an elected official in accepting the review that has been occurring and decisions being made, although with sadness and with humility,” he said in a statement, before seeming to indicate he would not resign from office. “I will constantly work to reaffirm with my own constituents that I understand the high calling of being an elected official and that I will devote my time on the Council to the redemptive.”

Evans stepped down from the Metro Board of Directors after the release of a 20-page memo that outlined a series of ethical violations he allegedly made while chairman of the board in late June. (Evans says the report is faulty.) The following day, federal agents conducted a raid at his Georgetown home.

Grosso was the first councilmember to call for an ad hoc committee to investigate the pay-to-play allegations against Evans in December, and said last week that he privately requested that D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson create a council committee to look into Evans more than a year ago.

But while Mendelson is hiring an independent law firm to investigate Evans and his “activities” over the D.C. Council’s summer recess. However, the chairman isn’t going to create a committee comprised of councilmembers to look into him quite yet.

Grosso says “that’s a huge mistake … The public has a right to know. The institutional memory here isn’t just about what Jack did—it’s about how we handle it.”

Mendelson told journalists today that he wouldn’t seek to remove Evans from his committee assignments, beyond his chairmanship position. In turn, Grosso plans to introduce a series of amendments on Tuesday to create an ad hoc committee to investigate Evans and to strip the Ward 2 councilmember of all of his committee assignments.

“I don’t think you’ll see a unanimous vote on these things,” says Grosso. “The council is legitimately divided on this. That’s life and that’s part of the process.”

Previously:
After Asking To Tell His Side Of The Story, Jack Evans Declines To Answer Questions
Jack Evans Says It’s ‘Premature’ To Remove Him As Finance Committee Chairman
The D.C. Council Will Investigate Jack Evans. Here’s Where Members Stand On Their Scandal-Plagued Colleague
Jack Evans Resigns From Metro Board After Doozy Of A Report About His Ethics Violations
Jack Evans Admits He Violated The Metro Board Ethics Code (After First Denying It)
Council Votes To Strip Jack Evans Of Some Finance Committee Responsibilities In Wake Of Ethics Scandal
Reprimand? Investigate? Sanction? Here’s Where Local Officials Stand On Jack Evans’ Ethics Scandal
D.C. Councilmembers Receive Subpoenas For Their Conversations With Jack Evans
Notes On A Scandal: WTF Is Going On With Ward 2’s Jack Evans?

This story has been updated with a statement from Jack Evans.