Amador County - Slowly but surely, the Census is making its way through Amador County as part of its decennial, constitutionally-mandated mission to count everyone in the United States. But as discussed at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, many Amador County residents are concerned as to why they have not yet received a Census form or been contacted by anyone from the Census office. County Surveyor George Allen, self-described as the “informal liaison for the County Census,” said the U.S. Census Bureau only mails forms to residents who receive mail at their house. “Since the majority of Amador County receives their mail through a P.O. Box, obviously there are residents who are getting very concerned about this,” said Allen at the board meeting. Barbara Ferry, Senior Partner Specialist with the Census, told TSPN that residents who do not receive their mail at a physical address will eventually be hand-counted in the second wave of census operations. Allen said the Census will be coming around to various uncounted residencies between May 1st and July 10th. Census workers are instructed to leave a form instructing residents to contact the worker to give their information. In some cases, workers will return to residencies up to 6 times in order to make contact. The Census began mailing out forms in mid-March. As of April 26th, 70 percent of Amador County residents have returned Census forms they received by mail. The highest local mail form return rate is in Ione, where 82 percent of residents have responded. The lowest return rates are 52 percent in Sutter Creek and 34 percent in Amador City, where the large majority of residents use P.O. boxes. Allen said the primary goal of the Census is to count people where they live, and P.O. boxes don’t accurately represent the number of people in any given area. Many residents in P.O. Box heavy cities are already receiving visits from workers. In Amador City last Thursday, Census workers could be seen leaving notices at various houses and apartment buildings in the downtown area. Ferry said participation in the census is important for two basic reasons: power and money. She said every year the federal government divides $470 billion among local communities, and that is based in large part upon the census results. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Wednesday, 05 May 2010 04:11
Census Operations Confuse Some Residents, Officials
Amador County - Slowly but surely, the Census is making its way through Amador County as part of its decennial, constitutionally-mandated mission to count everyone in the United States. But as discussed at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, many Amador County residents are concerned as to why they have not yet received a Census form or been contacted by anyone from the Census office. County Surveyor George Allen, self-described as the “informal liaison for the County Census,” said the U.S. Census Bureau only mails forms to residents who receive mail at their house. “Since the majority of Amador County receives their mail through a P.O. Box, obviously there are residents who are getting very concerned about this,” said Allen at the board meeting. Barbara Ferry, Senior Partner Specialist with the Census, told TSPN that residents who do not receive their mail at a physical address will eventually be hand-counted in the second wave of census operations. Allen said the Census will be coming around to various uncounted residencies between May 1st and July 10th. Census workers are instructed to leave a form instructing residents to contact the worker to give their information. In some cases, workers will return to residencies up to 6 times in order to make contact. The Census began mailing out forms in mid-March. As of April 26th, 70 percent of Amador County residents have returned Census forms they received by mail. The highest local mail form return rate is in Ione, where 82 percent of residents have responded. The lowest return rates are 52 percent in Sutter Creek and 34 percent in Amador City, where the large majority of residents use P.O. boxes. Allen said the primary goal of the Census is to count people where they live, and P.O. boxes don’t accurately represent the number of people in any given area. Many residents in P.O. Box heavy cities are already receiving visits from workers. In Amador City last Thursday, Census workers could be seen leaving notices at various houses and apartment buildings in the downtown area. Ferry said participation in the census is important for two basic reasons: power and money. She said every year the federal government divides $470 billion among local communities, and that is based in large part upon the census results. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Latest from
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