Phil Mendelson

In 2019, Mendelson proposed changes that would significantly limit the ability for the public to access government records through the Freedom of Information Act. Mendelson claimed that the changes were necessary to limit frivolous requests while activists insisted that the changes would prevent the public from uncovering fraud, waste, and abuses. Mendelson was also criticized for introducing the changes as a technical amendment, not separate legislation, which would require a public hearing.

In 2016 Mendelson overhauled Mayor Bowser's plan to close DC General homeless shelter and build multiple smaller shelters in its place. He shepherded Universal Paid Leave through the Council.

Mendelson's candidacy was endorsed by the editorial board of The Washington Post the Metropolitan Washington AFL–CIO, the Sierra Club, and the tenant advocacy council TENAC.

In 2012, Kwame Brown resigned from the position of Chair of the Council. In a vote of 11 to 1, the Council voted to appoint Mendelson to the position of interim Chair of the Council. In a special election held in November 2012, Mendelson was elected by District voters to the position of Chair of the Council. He was elected to a full term as chair in 2014.

From 2005 to 2012 Mendelson served as the chair of the DC Council's Committee on the Judiciary. In 2011 he supported the effort to establish an elected attorney general and pushed for an independent Forensic Science Crime Lab.

Mendelson and Ridgway have a daughter, Adelaide Marie Ridgway-Mendelson, born July 29, 2000.

Mendelson won the general election with 37 percent of the vote. He was sworn in on January 2, 1999. Because Mendelson had no seniority on the Council, Council Chair Linda W. Cropp did not assign him to chair any committees, but he was appointed as a representative to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

In 1999, Mendelson and Catania sponsored a bill to amend a law that required most contractors to hire a majority of District residents to complete contracts with the District government. The new bill would reduce monetary penalties for noncompliance, and ban non-compliant companies from doing business with the District for three years.

In 1998, the Financial Control Board considered repealing a law that required environmental impact statements for private projects costing more than $1 million. The Financial Control Board said repealing the law would make it easier to do business in the District. Mendelson opposed the repeal, saying that environmental impact statements can reveal potential public health hazards before they occur and that preparation of the statements is not sufficiently onerous to offset the potential benefits. The Financial Control Board ended up increasing the threshold from $1 million to $5 million.

On June 14, 1998, Mendelson announced he would run again for an at-large seat on the Council of the District of Columbia. Mendelson said the public needed to be better informed about the incumbent Council's meetings and votes. He said residents only hear from Council members when they are up for reelection.

In 1997, the District Department of Recreation tore down a playground in McLean Gardens because it was rotting, splintered, and dangerous. Mendelson criticized the Department of Recreation for not informing residents ahead of time and for not replacing the equipment immediately. A spokesperson for the Department said that the new playground equipment would be installed within two weeks.

In 1996, Mendelson ran for an at-large seat on the Council. Mendelson's campaign focused on holding government employees accountable, hiring qualified individuals for government positions, and cutting wasteful and ineffective programs. Mendelson criticized incumbent Harold Brazil for conspicuously leaving a Council meeting just before a vote on whether to reduce pension benefits for newly hired police officers, firefighters, and teachers. Mendelson said Brazil's absence was in line with many other important votes that Brazil for which was absent. He said all Council members should accept a cut in salary due to recent poor performance of the Council.

In 1992, Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly's task force on the homeless made a recommendation that shelter beds should be located equally throughout the District. Other than a few churches, there were no homeless shelters located in Ward 3 at the time. The ward's council member Jim Nathanson opposed establishing homeless shelters in Ward 3. Mendelson was also opposed, saying, "There's no right for the homeless to get shelter in any neighborhood they want."

In 1992, Mendelson ran unopposed for reelection as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and won the election. He was subsequently elected vice-chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C, which represents residents of Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Massachusetts Heights, and Woodley Park.

In 1990, Mendelson resigned from the D.C. Democratic State Committee to work for the reelection campaign of Jim Nathanson, member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 3.

Also in 1990, Mendelson voiced his opposition to iron fences on the Duke Ellington Bridge in Rock Creek Park that were intended to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. He said the fences did not prevent suicide because there were more suicide attempts from the bridge after the fences were erected. An increase in suicide attempts from the nearby Taft Bridge demonstrated that the fences merely diverted, rather than deterred, suicide attempts in his opinion. Mendelson argued against putting fences up again after the Duke Ellington Bridge's scheduled reconstruction and instead post phone numbers for suicide prevention hotlines on the bridge. He was also opposed to building fences on the Taft Bridge. A group of local mental health physicians was in favor of the fences, saying the fences were worthwhile even if they did not deter every suicide attempt.

Mendelson ran unopposed for reelection as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in 1990; he won the election.

In 1988, Mendelson was elected to the D.C. Democratic State Committee, representing Ward 3, in 1988. He ran unopposed for reelection as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, and he won the election. He was elected chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C soon thereafter.

In 1986, Mendelson ran unopposed to represent McLean Gardens in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C. He won the election. In 1987, he was elected treasurer of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C.

Mendelson came to Washington from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in 1970 to attend American University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Philip Heath Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently the Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Council Chair Kwame R. Brown. He was elected to serve the remainder of Brown's term in a citywide special election on November 6, 2012, and re-elected to a full term in 2014 and 2018.