URGING SUPPORT FOR LOCAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE 2010 CENSUS
WHEREAS, the National Academies of Science recently cited the 2000
address list as one of the major operational problems of the 2000 census; and
WHEREAS, in 1994, Congress passed the Census Address List Improvement
Act to facilitate cooperation between the Census Bureau and local governments
to improve the census address list, and the Census Bureau operationalized the
law in a program titled Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA); and
WHEREAS, the Congressional intent of the Census Address List Improvement
Act was two-fold: first the legislators believed that by drawing on the
knowledge of local officials the Census Bureau could improve the quality of the
address list, and second, Congress believed that local government officials
would have more confidence in the quality of the address list if they were
active participants in the process, and had the opportunity to review the
address list for their jurisdiction before the census count; and
WHEREAS, unfortunately, the LUCA program produced only mixed results
according to a GAO report which stated that the level of participation by local
governments was low, that those who did participate found the program
burdensome, and that the Census Bureau underestimated the time needed to
complete the program; and
WHEREAS, many of the problems with the 2000 Census can be resolved by
bringing local governments officials into the process earlier, committing
greater resources to the address list process, and increasing education so that
local officials and Census Bureau employees understand their shared goal,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors
urges Congress and the Administration to commit additional financial and
personnel resources to the address list process starting in 2005; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors
urges the United States Census Bureau to take the necessary steps to improve
the process for working with local governments, including the following:
· establishing a
senior level position for a person who can respond to the specific issues and
problems of local governments regarding the address list, and who can bring
together resources from throughout the Census Bureau to change policies and
procedures to achieve the desired outcomes.
· soliciting
input from local governments and the organizations that represent them in
developing plans for improving the address list for 2010.
· establishing
priorities in dealing with address list problems faced by the wide spectrum of
local governments across the nation.
· testing
procedures designed to better list and enumerate the most problematic address
types in the 2006 test census.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 