By Larry Jones
June 29, 2009

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, chair of the Conference of Mayors 2010 Census Task Force, reminded mayors at the June 15 meeting that the start of the census is just 289 days away. He said, "I know that because we have placed a 2010 census count down clock on my office website to help inform and build awareness about the census." He added, "289 days might sound like a life-time from now but there is much work to do if we want to have an accurate count of our citizens. I think all of you know, as mayors we are uniquely positioned to ensure an accurate count for our communities but we have to be the drivers of an accurate count."

Highlighting the importance of the census, Mallory said the census is conducted ever ten years to update population data used to redraw lines for congressional districts and to distribute hundreds of billion of dollars in federal funds every year to 170 different federal programs.

Terri Ann Lowenthal, a census consultant and former member of President Barack Obama's Transition Team for the Census Bureau, discussed what mayors need to know as the 2010 Census approaches. She told mayors that the census is the nation's largest peacetime mobilization and that the U S Census Bureau plans to recruit three million people to fill 1.5 million jobs. These will include both part-time and full time jobs and mayors can help by assisting the Bureau in recruiting qualified candidates.

Stressing the importance of an accurate count, Lowenthal said census data is used to distribute $400 billion every year in federal funds to state and local governments. This translates to an average of $1200 per person annually and $12,000 per person over the decade. For every 100 persons missed in the next census, a city could lose a total of $120,000 annually and $1,200,000 over the decade.

She urged mayors to be mindful of the groups that have been undercounted in past census counts and to make sure they do all they can to ensure that they are accurately counted in the next census. In the past, she said, people who have been missed or under counted include people of color, low-income populations, immigrants with limited English proficiency, young children and unemployed people. On the other hand, she explained that people who tended to be over counted or duplicated include non-Hispanic Whites, the more affluent who have more than one resident, and college students moving away from home. People who are missed tend to live in the inner cities while those who are counted twice tend to live in the suburbs.

Lowenthal urged mayors to contact their congressional delegation and urge members in the House not to support amendments to the 2010 Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill that would shift funds away from the Census Bureau to fund other programs. She explained that all of the funds requested by the Administration for the Census Bureau are needed to conduct the census. Any reduction in funds could affect the overall accuracy of the census. She also urged mayors to contact both the Democratic and Republican leadership in the Senate, as well as their own Senators and urge them to move expeditiously to take up the nomination of Robert Groves to fill the U S Census Bureau Director's job. She said it is essential that this happens soon so the Bureau can have the leadership it needs to conduct the census.

She ended by urging mayors to get involved by:

• Becoming a 2010 Census Partner

• Establishing a Complete Count Committee

• Locating Questionnaire Assistance Centers and "Be Counted" sites in high-traffic city service centers

• Hosting community meetings and events to promote census participation

• Helping recruit census workers

• Distributing census promotional materials at municipal sites; including census message on municipal mailings; and launching your own promotional campaign

• Carrying he message to your constituents