Public Safety Committee Chair

Tom tugs on non-native plants as he volunteers during the 2010 Johnson Creek Watershed-wide event.

Tom Barnes is the Chair of the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association (PGNA) Public Safety committee. In addition to founding the Neighborhood's Bike Patrol, Tom has worked countless hours making sure that Powellhurst-Gilbert is a clean and safe neighborhood, including the most successful neighborhood graffiti abatement program in the City of Portland. In 2009 he wrote and was awarded a grant to expand the graffiti abatement program to include all of East Portland.  In 2010, Tom and Donna Dionne, vice president of the Midway Business Association and co-facilitator of the Neighborhood's successful graffiti abatement program, received an All-Star Award from the City of Portland for their work with the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association Graffiti Cleanup. While continuing to be a leader, organizer, and documenter of graffiti throughout the neighborhood, he has also been a presenter promoting volunteer graffiti efforts in other neighborhoods.  His hands on approach has worked wonders for the area.

Tom is an active member of the East Portland Action Plan and co-chairs the Powell Boulevard Transportation Growth Management Committee with fellow Powellhurst-Gilbert resident Jim Chasse.  He is also the creator of the Adopt-A-Drain program in the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood, which is being used as a template for replication throughout the City of Portland.

Tom has also coordinated our neighbors involvement in the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade for both 2009 and 2010 and handmade all the signs that they carried.

He has volunteered hundreds of hours setting up the PGNA booth at different events as well as setting up for the meetings every month. Tom Barnes is the backbone of PGNA and a major reason our neighborhood received the 2009 Neighborhood of the Year Award. 

Tom Barnes in the news.

To contact Tom about the Public Safety Committee, you can e-mail him omdy12 [at] yahoo [dot] com (here).

Photos courtesy of David Ashton, www.eastpdxnews.com