Steve Burns

WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Offering a rebuke to the growing chorus calling for the resignation of Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday said the complaints she hears around the job Evans is doing means he’s “doing something right.”

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has called for Evans’ removal following a series of verbal sparring matches that ended with Hogan’s office calling Evans “outrageously unfit to serve.” Democratic Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly joined in as well, telling the Washington Post “(Evans) has now become a lightning rod that can only create, frankly, opposition to any attempt at forging a regional agreement on dedicated funding.”

Bowser said those criticisms only improve her opinion of Evans’ work.

“From my estimation, knowing all the players, knowing what the issues are, he’s doing exactly what needs to be done at Metro,” Bowser said during a breakfast with the D.C. Council, which Evans also attended as the Ward 2 Councilmember. “Is he popular among other jurisdictions? No. Does he make them uncomfortable because he’s calling out very specific issues? Yes. Is he right on those issues? In my view, he is.”

Evans’ main crusade since he rejoined the Board in 2015 has been attempting to figure out a long-term solution to fund Metro, often calling out suburban jurisdictions that he feels aren’t pulling their weight. Lawmakers spent the majority of the breakfast discussing Metro’s finances, often sounding skeptical that a proposal to fund Metro through a one percent sales tax region-wide would find approval in Annapolis and Richmond.

At-large Councilmember Anita Bonds suggested exploring a much lighter schedule for Metro if funding were to get tighter, saying riders could become accustomed to trains every 30-45 minutes.

“That’s the fastest way to kill a transit system,” Bowser responded.

Bowser also praised similarly outspoken D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.

“Anytime I have people from around the region complaining to me about Jack and Phil, they’re doing something right,” she said.

“The Mayor, Jack Evans, I, and the Council stand together on this issue, which is the need to improve Metro, the need to secure safety and reliability for the system, the need for dedicated funding, the need for the region to come together and to actually resolve the problem, rather than continue to talk about how we’re going to resolve the problem.” Mendelson told WMAL. “For some, the disagreement has taken on a different tone, which is attacking one of the District’s representatives, and that doesn’t actually help us move forward.”

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