You better be careful or the next thing you know you will be accused of being me.
Since the census is so critical I wonder if the county is going to allocate funds toward insuring a complete count occurs.
As for the political maneuvering, could you give some examples instead of alluding to behind the scene conspiracies. We all know that there are a lot of conspiracies going on, especially with those darn post offices and their zip codes, but I do not consider that politics. Just another example of a failed monopoly.
And what is a doxie?
Robert,
Doubt any local funds, other than my time, will be expended on this. None were in the 2000 census Complete Count Committee. I expect the feds will be publicizing it fairly heavily as we go on. Given the new administration in Washington, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of Acorn being involved somewhere either...but haven't heard of their operating here in our area.
When Ms. Joshua got up before the Board at the last meeting, she mentioned Walton County having a 40-something percent undercount as a driver behind establishing a Complete Count Committee. This was no doubt based on the mail-out returns from every 911 address in the county. As you know, many of the rental units and second homes down here don't receive mail...but they're still 911 addresses.
A large part of the Complete Count effort is reaching out to the traditionally non-responsive segments of our community -- those who don't trust the government, don't want to be bothered with forms, etc. With the advent of the American Community Survey the Census Bureau started up about 5 years ago, the census form for the 2010 will only be, as I understand it, about 6 or so questions. The rest of the data that used to be requested in the long form that one out of six households received is now collected on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
There
is a lot at stake in terms of federal allocations, including the state pass-throughs, and all sorts of other goodies based on population. Our SHIP funds are allocated on population, not by how much money was sent to Tallahassee in doc stamps. Same thing with school funds -- FTE count drives that distribution, not how much money was sent to Tallahassee in required local effort property taxes. Then there's the state constitution-mandated redistricting that will have to occur in 2011 based on the 2010 census numbers. Don't mean to preach to the choir, but we need to get the best turnout we can of the folks who are really here.
The zip codes are another matter altogether. We just have the misfortune, community identity wise, to lie between two regional post office territories -- the 325 in Pensacola and 324 in Panama City. The USPS doesn't see the need to regard the county boundary lines on the map...all they want to do is deliver the mail. We got some concessions from them on allowable alternate place names for certain zips, but don't hold your breath for new zip codes that are uniquely ours. You're right -- no politics there, other than some internal USPS politics dealing with maintaining carrier routes and numbers served by a given post office.
