Page 12 - Sonoma County Gazette MARCH 2020

CENSUS cont’d from page 1
By one estimate, our state was shorted by nearly 3 percent -- or 835,000 people -- in the 1990 census, and large segments are at risk of being undercounted again this year.
Some say California could be poised to lose a
That’s why California leaders have launched a statewide effort to ensure an accurate and successful count this time around, investing in outreach and communication. The California Complete Count Census 2020 campaign will deploy an army of newly hired census workers, the media and community groups to go to hard-to-reach neighborhoods throughout California and urge participation.
Money you paid through taxes would instead go to another
state. What’s more, the information is used to draw state legislative and congressional district lines, affecting the entire state’s political influence along with the power of certain communities. Even if a state’s total is high enough to maintain its congressional seats, an undercount in an ethnically diverse region could dilute power for that community.
Educating Californians about the nationwide headcount is an important job. Everyone must be involved, whether we’re walking neighborhoods or talking to friends about it. We all must be ambassadors for the census to ensure everyone is counted and California receives the funding and representation it deserves.
Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties. More information on Senator Bill Dodd can be found at www.senate.ca.gov/dodd.
How Sonoma County Will Get a Complete and Accurate Count in the 2020 Census
congressional seat.
Not responding is not an option.
Not surprisingly, many hard-to-count communities are right here in Northern California, including in Sonoma County. In fact, across Senate District 3, which includes Rohnert Park, Petaluma and Sonoma, officials
have identified numerous areas where people of diverse demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds are at risk of being excluded. One census estimate says nearly 45% of the district -- which at last count totaled nearly 970,000 people in six counties -- have some hard-to-count characteristics.
What are those traits? Renters and people living in apartments present the biggest challenges followed by
low-income and foreign-born people.
The fear is some families will not
By Albert Lerma
Every 10 years we take a
participate in the census because
of their immigration status. The concern was raised when the Trump administration tried unsuccessfully to add a citizenship question to the census.
snapshot of the country by counting every single person who lives in the United States. It’s essential to small communities that every last person is counted so that we get our fair share of federal funds.
Others might not respond because they have privacy concerns or worry about having more than the allowable number of people in their home. Roughly 40% of district housing is renter occupied and 8% moved from outside their county in the past year.
Billions of dollars in funding go
to cities and counties every year,
and Census data is used to decide where all those resources go.
Still others face language
This is the first time in history that everyone has been invited to go online! Those with a P.O. box will not get an invitation by mail but can still go online after March 12 or get assistance by phone to respond to the census.
barriers. About 10% of district
residents have limited English skills, according to census estimates. About two-thirds speak Spanish, 11% speak
Tagalog and 7% speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
Census FAQs so you’ll know what to expect:
Filling out the Census is required by law, and there will be three ways to respond: online, on the phone, and by filling out a paper questionnaire. The Census is hoping most complete this online – it saves the most taxpayer money and is the most efficient. If someone does not respond to the Census by May, a census taker will come to your door and personally help you fill out your form.
When you fill out your Census form you are doing a direct service to your local community. That’s because when our community gets a complete and accurate count, it also gets fully-funded for public services like schools, health clinics, Head Start, roads, Medicare, water and waste disposal systems, and libraries.
Some people simply don’t understand what the census is or why it’s so important. About 14% do not have access to the internet and 12% of adults over 25 didn’t graduate from high school.
All of that could skew the results.
Of course, all personal information submitted to the census is kept confidential. Nothing is shared with law enforcement, landlords or anyone else. No one should avoid doing it, regardless of immigration status, age or criminal history. No matter who you are or where you live, everyone counts.
What’s the benefit of filling it out?
Starting in late March, census forms will be available in paper form, in English and Spanish, as well as online in 12 different languages. Heads of households may begin responding immediately, counting every person living in their household.
We also want to make sure California is fairly represented in Congress, and Census data is used to reapportion House of Representatives seats to all 50 states. Cities and counties will use the data to redraw lines of their electoral districts, so the accuracy of the count has far-reaching consequences for the next decade.
Those who do not respond by May can expect a census worker to knock
on your door. And they will be knocking with good reason. Each uncounted person costs Californians about $2,000 per year for the next decade. The loss of information about where people live, how many people there are and what they need can also affect federal for schools, housing and health care.
CENSUS cont’d on page 113
Everyone with a household mailing address in Sonoma County will be getting a notice in the mail March 12-19. That notice will ask everyone to go online and fill out the Census form using an invitation ID number.
How do I respond to the Census?
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