ARMELLA BARNES

Settled in 1857, South Jordan was primarily a rural farming community when it became incorporated as a town in 1935. In 1960, the population was 1,354, and by 1970 the population had more than doubled to 2,942. Housing gradually started to replace farmland as the population once again more than doubled by 1980. South Jordan’s exponential growth since the early 1970s has brought all the challenges and opportunities of growth. The current population is estimated to be 33,010. Armella Barnes has been involved as a volunteer in South Jordan since 1996. She initially began serving on the Public Safety Committee as an alternate Board Member. She has been an integral member of the Public Safety Committee since then. Their collective responsibilities include how to coordinate and distribute resources subsequent to a disaster, how to best address fire and police budgetary requirements, graffiti removal, city clean-up tasks, street sidewalk, and other structure safety, as well as civilian education through various city, state and federal sponsored programs. Barnes is now a Board Member serving as a Liaison to the fire department. In her capacity as a Board Member, Barnes advises the fire department on safety issues facing the community. Barnes has also been instrumental in providing equipment for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Incident Command Trailer. In 1998, Barnes accepted the position of CERT Coordinator and oversees all training and CERT volunteer membership. Because of her involvement, emergency training has increased and more citizens and private business employees are now trained in emergency response. Barnes also serves as chairperson for the CERT Committee, which is the fire department’s right hand in the coordination of volunteers in the event of an emergency. In addition, Barnes assists the fire department as an EMT Instructor and CPR Instructor. She has assisted the Fire Prevention Division in the middle schools and helped to instruct more than 1500 students in CPR. Though Armella Barnes has a family and other responsibilities, she takes the time to make her community a better place. She spends many hours of service away from her home to provide South Jordan City with necessary equipment and training needs.