Travis County Commissioners Court
March 23, 2010,
Item 3
>> you let elected officials ride?
sergeant rodriguez?
number 3 is to approve proclamation designating March 26, 2010, as Travis County census awareness day.
are you going to talk us through this?
or should I read this?
>> it would be great if you read it judge.
>> it reads, whereas Travis County recognizes the importance of the 2010 census on the overall well being and quality of life for all residents of our community, every resident in Travis County counts, whereas more than 400 billion dollars per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities based on census data whereas census data helps determine how many seats each state will have in the u.s.
house of representatives, and often is used for the redistricting of state legislatures, local governments and voting districts, whereas the 2010 census forms arrive in mailbox is mid March and through and should be made back by April 1, whereas the information collected by the census is protected by law and remains for 72 years, whereas as of 2010 census partner, as a 2010 census partner Travis County will support the goals and ideals of the 2010 census and will inform and emphasize participate tis passion that will raise awareness of events to ensure a full and accurate count, therefore be it resolved that the Travis County Commissioners court recognizes March 26, 2010, as Travis County awareness census day is.
and I move of proof approval.
>> second.
>> I got mine and mailed it back already.
>> my husband was running around already and saying where is it?
did you I it in the recycling?
>> judge Biscoe, I was going to make a couple brief remarks but I cannot possibly match judge shepherd in eloquence or comprehensive knowledge of the census issue.
with your permission I will turn the over the him.
>> thank you all for this proclamation and for making it census day.
this is very critically important to us.
let me say whether a pleasure it has been to work with veronica and dee in this earth.
i didn't think I would have this much fun, but I v judge Biscoe has been really good about turning up and he and the mayor have done a really good job of getting the people out and reminding them of of how important this is.
i was talking with ryan robertson, the demographer of the city.
we undercounted only about two and a half percent last time and that was $236 million that we left on the table over ten years because we didn't count properly.
ryan and I were doing some numbers.
if that goes from two and a half percent to just three percent of the current population, that is $45 million that we leave on the table--$450 million that we leave on the table.
it's not hard to imagine that we would miss more than that.
we would be ecstatic if we ended up in the 92 percent range, that leaves a billion dollars on the table over ten years.
it is critically important that this happen.
so I thank you for declaring this day.
it's important for everybody to know just how important it is.
the roads that we need, the rail that we need, the school sizes, lots of different places and different people who can use this.
hospitals and clinics all of which need this money.
representation that we get from the federal government that is based upon these numbers.
and we need to be counted.
while others in other places are telling their folks not to turn in the census, we believe in Travis County that you ought to be counted because then we get to get the things in Travis County that keep us to be the place that we love to live and that we want to be.
it's a wonderful place to live and be.
that helps us.
every effort that you have made in turning these people loose on Travis County, we thank you for that because it's helped get the word out and that is critically important not only to us who happen to be on the complete count committee, bruce e phone couldn't be here.
he's is a little under the weather.
we thank you for your effort.
>> thank you toer your effort.
>> we have contacted all the county independent elected officials and county departments invited them to let us know how best they can help spread the word about the census and they have all been responsive and we have now strict--distributed some 13,000 fliers and couple hundred posters throughout the county bureaucracy.
the real center is going to be in the community centers, on Friday a very special day to talk about the census.
i want to recognize sherry flemming and the community center managers and let sherry briefly describe what they are going to be doing Friday.
>> sherry flemming, executive manager for health and human services.
good morning.
on Friday our community services will be celebrating the census and we'll be encouraging our employees to all dress in red and white and cross the system and we will have a lot of the census paraphernalia that deesereferred to will be available in the centers enmass.
we will be help people if they need assistance with their forms.
we can connect them with people to answer their questions.
we will be I guess all about the census on Friday in order to create, we think, the excitement and energy that is necessary to get our community engaged around this.
as you well know, our community centers are the hub of information for the communities that we serve.
so we want our constituents to feel like they are also the hub for information on the census and want them to know that we are committed about --excited about it and we want them to be as withel.
>> we only have a million people to count.
Commissioner Gomez sent hers in so we can strike one off that number.
>> if I get any calls from anybody.
>> the other thing is, once you complete your census form and mail it back in, there's no phone calls or people knocking on your door.
they really do want to get as great a response rate from people right now as possible.
>> as we were reminded at the summit, the county neighbors support this and that means census.
so thank you very much.
>> for people who may not be aware of how critical it is.
i think y'all have laid out a good format of how critical things are as far as filling out the census.
however, for the generally public that may be looking at this morning, what is the time line before getting these census information turned in in a timely manner where the folks can be counted properly?
can you basically is a that--say that so we know what we are up against in make sure the outreach effort being portrayed here is maximized.
could you maybe lay that out.
>> thank you, exister, a great question.
most Travis County residents should have received an envelope that looks like this in their mailboxes within the last week.
this is the census form sent out by the united states government.
it takes about ten minutes to fill out and return.
it's very easy to do.
the goal is to have everybody do that return by April 1.
so today is ten days out or nine days out from April 1.
and our goal is to try to get the word out to everybody in the community and ask them to fill out and return their census form between now and April 1.
>> all right.
deese, there are comments from individuals who say they have not received their census in the mail.
the question would be if you do not receive this information within that time line, what would a person be able to do to acquire the necessary forms to fill it out before April 1 if it's not received in the mail?
there are --
>> there are a couple different ways the access that information.
swun to call the census toll free number which unfortunately I don't have right here.
we could put that up on the Travis County website, Commissioner.
>> that would be good.
>> the other way to do it, there are a series of what are called b counted sites or questionnaire assistance centers around the county that the census bureau is opening and add ministering.
people can go to those.
throws going to be at community centers, libraries, some private businesses will make space available for that.
there will be a list that will be available on the web.
but those will be the two ways in which somebody who has not received a census form can get one.
i would think that if anybody does have a concern about that, if they would just call our office at 854-9754, we would be able to help provide, do whatever we can to help them get a census form.
>> repeat that number again.
>> 854-9754.
>> thank you.
>> also if those individuals would present on Friday or at any time at community center, we certainly can get on line or make that phone number available.
we can do whatever is necessary to make sure that connection is made with the census bureau.
>> okay.
>> I'm sure there's more incidents of perhaps not getting it in the mail than getting two in the mail.
at our house we received two.
so what should someone do if they get multiple mailings to the same address?
>> I think the intent would be to fill out one form for all the people residents in that household and to send it in before April 1.
>> recycle the other one.
>> recycle the other one.
>> all in favor that passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you.
>> thank you very much.
>> you have another proclamation to add to our growing list.
>> thank you, judge.
>> thanks so much for your work on this, deese.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 2:53 PM
