Phil Mendelson
| Phil Mendelson | |
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| 9th Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia | |
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Assumed office June 13, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Kwame Brown |
| Member of the Council of the District of Columbia At-Large |
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In office January 2, 1999 – November 29, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Hilda Mason |
| Succeeded by | Anita Bonds |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Philip Heath Mendelson November 8, 1952 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | American University |
Philip Heath "Phil" Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently the Chairman 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.
Mendelson came to Washington from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in 1970 to attend American University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
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 fought against a developer who wanted to build an office building on Wisconsin Avenue near Upton Street NW. Mendelson was opposed to the developer building an access road over a forested area. After his community group filed a lawsuit to block the road, a court determined that the developer had the right to build the access road. Mendelson tried to block the work using his own body, for which he was arrested. The wooded area was razed, and the access road was built.
Mendelson was critical of a policy of assessing property taxes on a building until the roof is sealed. One particular developer saved $500,000 of property taxes from delaying the sealing of the roof until later in the construction timeline. Mendelson said the District of Columbia was losing significant amounts of tax revenue from what he called a loophole.
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.
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