Hattiesburg gets ready for Census 2010

From the H'burg American:

Mississippi lost a U.S. congressional seat after the 2000 census because of a decline in the state's population.

Some officials believe low citizen participation was a major contributor in the state's loss of representation. Census and Hattiesburg officials want to make sure that doesn't happen again.

The city hosted a 2010 Census Kickoff Tuesday to raise public awareness and recruit citizens to join the city's Complete Count Committee.

The committee is responsible for educating the public about the upcoming census, said Christine Brown, manager of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the City of Hattiesburg.

"We're trying to get as many people as we can," Brown said. "We're asking volunteers interested in the growth and progress of Hattiesburg to sign up because the census is actually the determiner for the type of federal assistance we receive in the area."

The federal government uses census figures to allocate more than $300 billion a year in assistance and resources to local municipalities and agencies.

Brown said the committee also will help in canvassing neighborhoods where residents are less inclined to participate out of fear of persecution from the government.

"We definitely want our citizens to participate because we feel the citizens can reach their neighbors with a little more ease and comfort," Brown said.

There was much interest placed Tuesday on job opportunities for the 2010 count.

The Census Bureau is not currently hiring, but will resume sometime in the next few months.

"It's going to be for positions that are locally based," said Tracyee Williams, partnership specialist for the Dallas Regional Census Center.

Williams said there has been no indication on how many positions they are looking to fill.

Mayor Johnny DuPree and other county officials were surprised to learn that Hattiesburg would not have its own census office.

The nearest locations will be in Gulfport and Meridian, officials said.

"I think (Hattiesburg) will be a much better place to have an office, especially if you want an accurate count," DuPree said. "This is the Hub City...and having an estimated 300,000 people coming through here each day, I just think it's important to have that presence."

DuPree indicated he would be contacting census officials about the issue.

Other highlights from Tuesday's kickoff include:

Census 2010 forms will be mailed on March 15. This survey will be shorter - 10 questions that will only take 10 minutes to answer, officials said.

Information gathered by the survey is confidential and cannot be shared with any other governmental agency for 72 years.

Everyone is required to fill out a survey by federal law.

Sample copies of the census questionnaire can be found at www.census.gov.

Anyone interested in joining the Complete Count Committee can contact Christine Brown at 545-6259 or Maxine Coleman at 554-1005.