Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans' championing of stadium projects throughout the city has apparently now become a campaign issue in his race to retain his seat.

Cary Silverman, an attorney and community leader from the Shaw neighborhood, said Evans should spend less time pushing for new stadiums (like the Nats new ballpark and a new stadium for the Redskins at the RFK site) and more time focusing on problems within his ward.

“While our own neighborhoods deal with run down parks, crumbling schools, and inadequate libraries, our Council Member jumps on board yet another big stadium project outside our Ward,” Silverman said in a press release. “If we put the same level of energy and enthusiasm into fixing our schools, parks, and libraries, maybe we’d be in better shape."

Silverman conveniently makes no mention of Evans' role in the development of Verizon Center, the successful downtown arena that is located in Ward 2. But, he is going after Evans where he is weakest. While everyone's excited about opening day at the Nationals' new ballpark, few forget that the city is paying more than $600 million for the project, the most generous stadium deal in the history of professional sports.

I'm not a political reporter and won't pretend to be here. I do know that Evans is by far the longest-serving council member and is rarely at risk of losing re-election. But I think it's safe to say that Evans will have to spend good amount of time in his campaign trying to re-explain the motivations behind his pro-stadium stances.