Since Sports Gambling was legalized in Washington DC and key issued to Greek operator Intralot, there has been doubt about the legality of the whole arrangement.
As a result, the Council in DC has argued that it had to forego standard bidding formalities because it wanted to launch the betting industry quickly. Nearly one year later, very little progress has been achieved.
As concern over the nature of the deal continues to rise, one name has been mentioned adversely as the center of this matter– that of council member Jack Evans. It now appears that he may be forced out of his office after there has been renewed push to have the process done a fresh.
Of the 13 council members on DC’s Council, about 12 have voted to give the Councilman the kick. He has served on the council for nearly 28 years. However, he has been under fire numerous times for reasons such as questionable negotiations as well as potential ethical violations, and it seems the council is fed up.
This is the first step towards giving the council member, and master manipulator, the boot. Nevertheless, the removal process has to go through a vote that the whole council will be required to participate in, including council member Evans. In addition, as stated on calvinayre, about 11 of 13 members will have to approve the whole affair for it to commence.
However, the consensus in DC is Council cannot be trusted, mostly due to council member Evan’s affairs as well as alleged underhand activities. Based on the sentiments of Elisa Silverman, a council member who has been particularly vocal about this issue, the process is about all the council members and whether their representatives will have confidence in the decision they will make will be the right one, and not because there is a lot of money behind the choices that will be made.
Councilmember Evans may have been part of the ad hoc decision – as a respondent, not as a voter, in order to respond to allegation labelled against him in this case. However, he chose not to be part of the process, something the other members considered a slap in their faces.
As council member Robert C. White Asserted, Evan’s choice not to appear before the proceedings will reinforce the idea that he does not understand his situation and the severity of the whole issue and how this is going to impact people in the Washington DC. He also appears not to have respect for fellow council members.
Evans was very influential in getting the council members to give Intralot the $215 million contract. He had already been asked to step down, even before this contract had been formalized, from his role as chairperson of DC’s Finance and Revenue Committee over ethical violations.
Now that he is likely to be ousted, the formal vote is likely to take place on the 17th of December. Currently, there is a new push to have the Council in DC begin the Sports Gambling legislation a new, and get it right.
