LOCAL OFFICIALS HOST MEETING ABOUT 2020 CENSUS

Jeanine Beasley, media coordinator for the U.S. Census, presented information on how residents can be counted in the 2020 Census. Photo credit: Tia Carol Jones
Jeanine Beasley, media coordinator for the U.S. Census, presented information on how residents can be counted in the 2020 Census. Photo credit: Tia Carol Jones

Local officials host meeting about 2020 Census

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Greg Mitchell, 7th ward Alderman; Leslie Hairston, 5th Ward Alderman; and Bill Lowry, District 3 Cook County Board Commissioner, participated in a community meeting about the 2020 Census on Thursday, March 12, at the Quarry Event Center, 2324 E. 75th St.

The goal of the meeting was to present information to residents about how to participate in the census and why it is important.

“I’m still learning about how this process is going to go, this is my first as an elected official,” said Mitchell. “We have to be counted. I lost 10,000 residents.”

Hairston said it will be her third census. She said the census is really important for the community.

“It is really, really serious and important because what we have the potential to lose in the next remap, if we are not all counted, is potentially three black wards in the city of Chicago. Three black wards, that means our voting strength will be diluted and I cannot stress that enough,” she said. “We talk about the things that we need in our community. We are able to get those things when we are counted.”

Hairston said there are more than 7,000 seniors in her ward and she is not sure all of them have access to computers. So, she has been trying to come up with creative ways to make sure her constituents are counted. One idea was to go into the multi-units and have residents come into the lobby and fill out the data. The pandemic also could complicate measures to count residents.

“And, I know there’s been a lot of talk about the Coronavirus that’s going on and people don’t want to let people come into their house or anything and I think we, meaning the county and the city, all of us are going to be trying to find creative ways to make sure we get counted,” she said. “So, we’re going to be creative, we’re going to [be] relying on you to get the information out.”

Lowry agreed with Hairston about the potential loss for the community if residents are not counted.

“What we’re already hearing is we will lose one seat, may lose two seats -- congressional seats. That will impact our federal funding,” he said. “As we look around, especially where a lot of us spend our time, we still don’t have enough resources. So, we can’t afford to lose the federal funding because we haven’t counted folks who should be counted.”

According to Lowry, the county has devoted $4 million over the last year and this year relative to the hard to count population and the goal is to get those individuals counted.

Lowry added it’s important the community get the word out and tell other residents they need to be counted. It’s also important to share the knowledge, he continued, about what can be gained and what will be lost. Being counted is vital to funding, having a voice in Washington and “relative to our electoral college influence,” Lowry stated.

April Williams-Luster from Congresswoman Robin Kelly’s office did confirm there will be one congressional seat lost and that another seat might be lost in the African American community.

“Congresswoman Kelly is all the way from 53rd and Cornell, all the way to Kankakee County. They may push her back all the way to Champaign,” she said.

Jeanine Beasley, media coordinator for the US Census, said Thursday, March 12, was the first day for everyone to respond to the census.

People being counted today affects “rolls, representation in Congress, federal funding for SNAP, Medicare, transportation, all of those things that affect our community,” Beasley said. “In the 7th ward, say for example, 10,000 people live there but we only have a count where 8,000 people are being counted. So, there is only funding for 8,000 people really, but 10,000 people live there. So, that’s the importance of people being counted.”

Then, Beasley gave a timeline. March 12-20 is when you will receive an invitation in the mail to respond. March 16-24 you will receive a reminder letter. Then March 26-April 3, we’ll send another letter.

“At this point, April 8-16, this is our fourth attempt to contact residents. And so, with that, if you haven’t responded online or by phone, you’ll receive another letter to say, we still want you counted, but we’ll also include a paper questionnaire. So, now you have three opportunities to respond.”

Beasley said you count everyone living in your house. A unique census

ID that is tied to your address is on the invitation sent by mail.

“Make sure everyone who’s at your address is counted,” she said. “Be sure to count your children.”

There will be nine questions. From 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. seven days a week, people can call in to give census information. Census workers will be deployed April 20-27. To respond online, visit www. 2020census.gov.

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