Census official meets with area officials, stresses importance of participation

Evonne and Merle Trelow of Mount Leonard, Beverly and Herb Richtermeyer of Grand Pass, Diana Dickey of Arrow Rock, John Bakert of Miami and Richard Clause of Nelson were all present to represent their communities.

St. George stressed the importance of participation in the census because things like Congressional representation and the allocation of more than $400 billion in federal funding are based on census results.

"It's extremely important for you to make sure your communities are accurately counted," he said. "The more accurate the count is, the more money to our communities."

Examples of programs receiving the funds are the National School Lunch Program; the nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children; Head Start; and Community Development Block Grants.

Plus, St. George said, the census is only taken every 10 years, so inaccurate results will not be corrected quickly.

"You have to live with those numbers for 10 years," he said. "That's why it's even more important that you get an accurate count."

The census bureau will begin mailing its questionnaires -- comprised of 10 basic questions -- to all residences in February and March. The forms, which come with a pre-paid return envelope, should be sent back reflecting the household's status on April 1, Census Day. The actual deadline is May 1, 2010.

Every household will receive a questionnaire, St. George said, though residents' names will not be on it. And, everyone living in the U.S. should complete the census, regardless of citizenship or residency status. This is because the census is designed to count residents of the country, not citizens, St. George said.

"It's just about counting people," he said. "We don't get political."

He added, "Regardless of your status, you're still driving on the same roads," meaning everyone in the country is using services affected by the annual distribution of $400 billion.

St. George also noted that information collected by the census bureau is confidential. It can only be used for statistical purposes.

Those who do not complete the questionnaires sent them will receive visits from census bureau personnel, from about May to July 2010. St. George said these workers will have badges and bags with official census bureau markers.

He said the door-to-door personnel will not ask for information of a very personal nature, like Social Security or credit card numbers. People who do ask those questions are not from the census, he warned.

"Unfortunately," he said, "scammers are always out."

To offer some perspective, St. George said Saline County's response rate in the 2000 census was 69 percent, before census workers conducted household visits. The Missouri participation rate was also 69 percent, and the national rate was 67 percent.

After the household visits were completed, the actual response rate was close to 100 percent, St. George said.

He encouraged community leaders to make sure residents of their towns are well informed about the census process and its importance.

"You are a trusted voice in your community," he said.

St. George also spoke about another form of public participation in the census: jobs. Area residents interested in conducting home visits to solicit answers to the questionnaires can currently sign up to take a job qualification test. Once all the census forms have been received in April, people will be hired for the door-to-door positions.

Southern District Commissioner Richard "Dick" Hassler said materials about working for the census bureau are available in a display case in the rotunda on the second floor of the Saline County Courthouse. Job seekers can also call the census job line at 866-861-2010.

Hassler concluded the meeting by thanking those who attended and encouraging their continued support of the census.

"We think it's pretty important," he said. "It's up to us now."

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net

On the Web:

http://2010.census.gov