Time to be counted in 2010

Rusk Blasingame celebrated 100 years of living, Saturday, January 23, 2010 at the Lone Star Community Center. Well over 100 family members and friends were on hand to encourage Blasingame as he began his second century. Earlier this week he received a letter of congratulations from First Lady Michelle Obama. Since 1790 the U.S. government has been taking a count, called a census, of the number of people who live in this country, in order to determine the number of seats each state would have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The census also was created to gain a better understanding of where people lived and to establish patterns of settlement as the nation grew.

The hope is to count every U.S. resident, both citizen and non-citizen, and to do as much as possible by mail. In the first week of March 2010, more than 130 million addresses across the nation will receive a 2010 Census questionnaire though the U.S. mail. The form will have 10 questions and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete; said to be one of the shortest census forms in history.

Questions will include the address of the residence; whether it is rented or owned; names, genders, ages and races of others living in the household. Census information is confidential and cannot be shared with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities. Given a designated amount of time, those who do not send their form back by mail will be visited, in person, by an employee of the Census Bureau who will conduct a personal interview and collect the census form.

The U.S. Constitution requires a national census once every 10 years to count the population and determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as determining boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts.

Additionally, the federal government allocates more than $400 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data. Census data are used to determine locations for retail stores, schools, hospitals, new housing developments and other community facilities.

On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 a meeting was conducted at the Leon County Annex II, which called together leaders in the Leon County community to brainstorm about ways to get as thorough count in the County as possible.

Larry McLain, Partnership Assistant with the U.S. Census Bureau, led the meeting and explained some of the concerns. The primary problem is people are afraid of how the information will be used, especially individuals who may be in this country illegally or those who have grown to distrust the government for whatever reason. Additionally, with the Twilight Rapist still at large many local residents are afraid of people they do not know.

The purpose of the meeting was to enlist the help of community and church leaders in notifying the public of the upcoming census and to publicize its safety.

Additionally, McLain announced that the Census Bureau is now hiring qualified individuals to work in the community locating households who failed to return their 2010 Census questionnaire. These workers will explain the purpose of the census and conduct personal interviews with respondents.

Key dates for the 2010 Census area as follows: February – March 2010 Census questionnaires are mailed or delivered to households. March – April 2010 Be Counted program is implemented. Census questionnaires are available at select public sites for individuals who did not receive one by mail. April 1, 2010 Census Day. May – July 2010 Census takers visit households that did not return a questionnaire by mail. Dec. 31, 2010 By law, the Census Bureau delivers population counts to the President. March 2011 By law, the Census Bureau completes delivery of redistricting data to states.