Phillips served on the council from 1992 to 2016, representing the fourth district, which includes the Seattle neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont, Belltown, South Lake Union, and Downtown.

His father was an architect and United States Naval Officer, serving in the Pacific in WWII, and his mother wrote for the Seattle Times, creating their "Home of the Month" feature called "Northwest Living."

On the Council, Phillips has been a leader on such issues as, land use and water quality, salmon protection, parks and open space, fiscal management, transportation and clean energy, and jobs and the economy.

In 2004, during his tenure as Council Chair, Phillips drew attention when he discovered that his absentee ballot had not been counted, along with 572 others, in the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election, which was decided by a margin of only 129 votes.

[5] As a founding member of Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 8, Phillips helped coordinate a local response to the federal listing of Chinook salmon as endangered.

Phillips has played a role in preserving over 165,000 acres of farm and forest land and salmon habitat as open space in King County during his time on the Council.

In response to Metro Transit's budget shortfall, Phillips called for a performance audit that identified over $200 million of savings or additional revenues that could be used to preserve service.