| 05/20/2009 - City of Newark Launches Census Drive |
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CITY OF NEWARK LAUNCHES CENSUS DRIVE URGING RESIDENTS TO “STAND UP AND BE COUNTED” IN 2010 Public, private and community agencies unite To ensure that Newark’s population is properly counted in 2010 Census Newark, NJ - May 20, 2009 - Mayor Cory A. Booker, members of the Newark Municipal Council, city, county and state dignitaries, and representatives from the U.S. Census Bureau joined together on the front steps of City Hall today to encourage local residents to “Stand Up and Be Counted” in the upcoming 2010 Census. Today’s census drive launch is part of the City’s efforts to ensure that Newark’s population is fairly and accurately counted on Census Day, taking place on April 1, 2010. During the event, Mayor Booker and other dignitaries discussed how Newark residents can participate by taking part in the Census, or working as census takers or support staff. “Newark, like many municipalities throughout the state, is facing challenging economic times,” Mayor Booker said. “The stimulus money and federal aid our city receives to support our schools, infrastructures and overall city programs are based on our population count. It is imperative for our transformation as the state’s largest city that the count is accurate. I urge all of Newark’s residents to stand up and be counted.” Census data is used by state and local agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations and members of the general public to design public safety strategies, make informed decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local and state governments each year. The Census also determines the proportions for districting the House of Representatives, and how many seats individual states get. “The City of Newark is proud to be a key member of the complete count committee,” said Municipal Council Member Anibal Ramos. “Newark’s ability to defend its title as the state’s largest city depends on whether or not we can accurately count our population. For the 2010 Census, we must do everything we can to ensure that our City is not undercounted, a problem which, in past years, has caused our city to lose out on federal funding.” The 2010 Census will have one of the shortest census questionnaires in history, dating back to the nation’s first census in 1790. The Census Bureau will mail or deliver more than 130 million questionnaires to households in the United States. All personal information will be kept confidential. “We want residents to know that the 2010 Census is important, it’s easy, and it’s safe,” says Raul Vicente, Jr., Senior Media Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. “By law, responses to the questionnaire can not be shared with any other agency or person, and this will be the shortest questionnaire ever.” Measures to spread the word about the 2010 Census include hiring local residents for a variety of temporary positions, ranging from field census takers to support positions in administration, recruiting, and technology fields. All Census Bureau employees, including the census workers who collect the address information and GPS coordinates, have taken a lifetime oath to protect confidentiality and are subject to a jail term, a fine - or both - for disclosing any information that could identify a respondent or household. Persons interested in these temporary positions can find out more at the Census Bureau’s web page at www.census.gov or can schedule an employment test by phoning (866) 861-2010. Additional information, fact sheets, and multimedia, are available on the Census Bureau’s online newsroom. Go to http://www.census.gov/2010 -NEWARK- For more information on the City of Newark, please visit our website at www.ci.newark.nj.us |