The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has elected District of Columbia Council Member Phil Mendelson to head its Board of Directors. Greenbelt Mayor Judith (“J”) Davis and Arlington County Board Member G.N. Jay Fisette will serve as vice chairs.

Phil Mendelson was first elected to the D.C. Council in November 1998. In 2003, he served as COG Board vice chair and was chair of the Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee. He also chaired the Transportation Planning Board in 2002.

Judith (“J”) Davis is in her sixth term on the Greenbelt City Council, currently serving as mayor.   She has held positions on COG's Ad Hoc Digital Divide Task Force, Strategic Planning Committee, and Chesapeake Bay Policy Committee.  Davis also is COG's liaison to the Potomac Regional Education Partnership Advisory Board and to the Advisory Board of the Institute for Regional Excellence, an executive development program for senior municipal managers.

Jay Fisette was elected to the Arlington County Board in November 1997. As a member of COG, he has served on the Metropolitan Development Policy Committee and the Regional Emergency Preparedness Council.

“As we begin a new year filled with new challenges, I look forward to working with the many talented leaders who make up the COG Board of Directors and am confident we will continue to build on the many accomplishments achieved in 2003,” Mendelson said.

The Board also appointed chairs to oversee procedures of several policy committees. They are: Prince George’s County Board Member Peter Shapiro, Chesapeake Bay Policy Committee; Arlington County Board Member Barbara A. Favola, Committee on Noise Abatement and Aviation at National and Dulles Airports; Arlington County Board Member Walter Tejada, Human Services Policy Committee; Alexandria Council Member Joyce Woodson, Metropolitan Development Policy Committee; Fairfax County Supervisor Penelope A. Gross, Public Safety Policy Committee; and D.C. Council Member-at-Large Carol Schwartz, National Capitol Region Emergency Preparedness Council.