Jose Menendez was appointed to the San Antonio Zoning Commission for District 6 in 1994. After realizing that the sitting Councilman for District 6 was not doing the best job for San Antonio, Menendez was urged to run for the seat in 1996. After a heated campaign, Menendez was elected to the office of City Councilman for District 6 in 1997.
In 1999 Menendez was re-elected with over 84% of the votes. Menendez served the City with distinction on the Small Business, International, and Ethics committees. He also served as Chairman of the City's Community Revitalization Action Group (CRAG). In December 1999 he was urged by community and business leaders to run for the State Legislature as he had been elected to his final City council term (due to term limits). In January 2000 he left Council and ran for State Representative for District 124. In January 2001, Jose Menendez, was sworn into is first term and continues to serve as the State Representative today.
Rep. Menendez is married to Cehlia Newman-Menendez and has three children; Dominic Michael, Victoria Elise, and Austin Maxwell. Rep. Menendez and his family reside, in both, San Antonio and Austin.