Last October, Northwest Academy joined the planned expansion of the Downtown Clean & Safe Enhanced Service District. The program would provide amenities such as sidewalk and graffiti cleaning, a public safety team, street outreach support, holiday lighting and resources for managing property damage.
On October 1st, 2025, Clean & Safe officially began patrolling the expanded area. The contractors follow patrol routes throughout the district, but can also be called in to deal with specific situations. There are three main types of Clean & Safe staff on patrol: cleaners, unarmed security guards and a select few armed security guards on standby for hazardous situations. In their brochure, Clean & Safe cites statistics like “70,753 biohazards cleaned” and “9,730 unwanted persons addressed.”
“As a school, we have a relationship with them because we are now under the boundary of Clean & Safe,” said Candy Trujillo, NWA’s Operations Manager. “What that means is that they are a service to us for janitorial [services], for safety. When we’re in need of safety or clean up, disposal or things like that, we call them and then they send people out and take care of it.”
Alongside Trujillo, NWA’s Security Coordinator Mike Gorgone is the primary contact between NWA and Clean & Safe. Currently, the organization contracts with the private security company Garda, however the contract was previously held by Portland Patrol, Gorgone’s former employer. Gorgone is in regular communication with Clean & Safe workers on the street, particularly during passing periods.
“[District] leads are the ones who dictate where their patrol should go, but they’re also receiving phone calls from businesses like us in any given district,” said Gorgone. “Sometimes when they’re passing through, I’ll say, ‘Hey y’all, school is let out at 3:50 would you mind sending an extra couple of people to stroll through the neighborhood at that time?’ So I make recommendations but I’m not the one dictating anything.”
Beyond patrolling, Clean & Safe workers attend to calls, either from businesses or passerbys. The cleaners, who make their rounds on large cargo bikes containing a multitude of cleaning supplies, have been called for biological or otherwise hazardous waste near the school. The security guards, on the other hand, are rarely called on school grounds as Gorgone fulfills that role.
“What their unarmed patrol guards are doing downtown is mostly deescalating situations,” said Gorgone. “[Things like] asking people to move out from in front of business, and generally being able to discuss matters with people who are suffering from mental illness or drug abuse problems that don’t have to involve law enforcement.”
According to Gorgone, the armed officers handle situations that escalate beyond what an unarmed security can deal with, and are a more expedient alternative to the police. Both security team members applauded the performance of Clean & Safe in the month they have been patrolling the district.
“I have totally noticed a marked improvement since we’ve been with Clean & Safe,” said Trujillo. “Today, for example, we had a little doggy accident. We were able to call them, and then they sent out someone to clean up [the mess]. Less than 30 minutes and they were here.”
Gorgone recommended that community members call Clean & Safe if they see messes or potentially dangerous situations.
“They mostly have encouraged us to call them if we see anything outside of the immediate blocks of the school. A block beyond right in front of our school would be worth notifying [Clean and Safe],” said Jada Pierce, an NWA Humanities Teacher. “It’s not like calling the police; they’re not there to arrest anybody. They don’t have that kind of power, but they will engage with whatever the incident is or whatever the issue is.”
The student body has offered limited responses about Clean & Safe. Most students said they knew little to nothing about it, but those who were generally aware of the organization thought positively of it.
“I feel like it’s just genuinely nice to know that someone’s there [to] clean up after stuff [and] that you have someone to call if you see stuff,” said Maura Moloney, an NWA senior. “It’s just nice knowing there’s someone outside of our own security guards that’s looking out for our area and our school.”
Students were particularly supportive of Clean & Safe’s apparent separation from law enforcement. While Clean & Safe did have a much criticized contract with the Portland Police, it was terminated several years ago.
“I appreciate that they’re incentivizing not calling the police,” said NWA senior Nini Annuse. “ I think in cases of people who need help but make you feel unsafe, calling the police usually doesn’t get the help they need.”
Clean & Safe has hardly been without critics in the past. Advocates for homeless people have expressed concern with security guard’s treatment of people living on the streets. Home owners and business owners have also criticized Clean & Safe’s ties to the Portland Business Alliance, and its lack of financial transparency as to where their tax dollars go. NWA staff still believe that the benefits of Clean & Safe outweigh the drawbacks.
“I certainly see a difference, and that’s wild to me,” said Brock Dunn, Interim Head of School. “You could immediately see a difference [in the] cleanliness of our neighborhood. Their presence provides an authoritative figure and therefore changes some of the behavior.”
According to Pierce, while Clean & Safe is by no means a solution to the problems with homelessness downtown Portland faces, she thinks it serves an important purpose. She emphasized the challenges that face a school downtown, especially one with middle school students.
“I think that there’s so many other pieces that need to be in place for there to be a longer term change or like a really noticeable change,” said Pierce. “But I think it’s a first step and I’m assuming other pieces are hopefully going to be put into place. In the meantime, how do you keep businesses open in downtown Portland, a struggling city? How do you make sure that 11 year olds coming to school are safe?”
To contact Clean & Safe, call 503-388-3888.
Reporting by Jonas Honeyman-Colvin and Signe Miner
