John P. Barnes is a third-generation resident of the City of West University Place, residing since 2003 on the property purchased in 1941 by his grandparents, Marvin and Josephine Allen. During the forty-nine years in which John has been affiliated with West U, initially as a frequent visitor to his grandparents and then as a resident himself, John has seen West U grow from the sleepy bedroom community in the shadow of Rice University of the 1970s to the vibrant Neighborhood City of lovely homes and lush green-scape that it now is.
A graduate of both Vanderbilt University and South Texas College of Law, John has practiced law in the Houston area for more than 20 years, serving a diverse array of clients, both local, national and international, in the real estate, construction, financial, energy, retail and non-profit industries. John’s clients have sought his counsel on matters ranging from land use and boundary disputes to real estate developments valued in excess of $500 million, as well as employment, lending, regulatory compliance and corporate and non-profit governance issues. A litigator as well, John has practiced before district courts throughout Texas, as well as the Texas Courts of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Now serving his second consecutive term on City Council, John led several initiatives in his first term, including the successful effort in 2020 to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official city holiday and the establishment of a warming center in response to the winter storm in February 2021. John has a long-standing commitment to community service, having volunteered with the DePelchin Children’s Center’s Holiday Project, the Houston Bar Association’s LegalLine, the Souper Bowl of Caring and Habitat for Humanity. A Fellow of Class XXXI of Leadership Houston, John has served on Leadership Houston’s Board of Directors in various roles as its Secretary, its outside counsel and its Treasurer. John is also an active member of the Rotary Club of West U, where he has served as its Treasurer, and on both the membership and flag committees. John and his wife, Susan, are members of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
A guitar player and avid book and comic book collector, John can also frequently be found in the garden, tending to trees, shrubs and flowers against both the drenching rains of the Houston spring and the scorching heat of the Texas summer. As with that garden, John looks forward to working with his colleagues on the City Council to make the City of West University Place continue to grow and prosper throughout the years and challenges to come.