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Home My WebLink AboutCP 64 � (Ow ME ; NO JC�IL 0 neo paws , POLICY PROPOSAL DATE FILE NUMBER SUBJECT PAGE-L-01`-3- 12/13/79 AGE1 OF312/13/79 CP-64 1980 Census Complete Count PROPOSAL PROPOSED BY: CIT ANAGER'S EVIEW Louis Zapata, Councilman �� The 1980 Census will be taken on April 1, 1980. This allows 114 days to insure that an accurate census is taken in the City of Fort Worth. The information obtained on that one day will dramatically affect countless decisions over the next decade! A few exmaples of decisions that are affected by the census include: 1. The amount of grant money that Fort Worth receives, and indeed whether or not the City is eligible for certain grants. 2. Redistricting of political subdivisions from congressional seats, through state and county offices, and including our own City Council districts. 3. Many private investment decisions about locating, expanding, and level of activities in Fort Worth. 4. City staff uses census data on a daily basis for developing recom- mendations to the City Council, for planning extension and expansion of City services, and for support of grant applications of many kinds. Obviously, it is extremely important that we assist the Census Bureau in seeing that Fort Worth's population is accurately counted on April 1, 1980. If there are problems with the City's preliminary census data, the Council and staff will have only ten days to prepare a challenge to this information and this limited amount of time is not sufficient to prepare meaningful challenges to the preliminary count. In order to avoid potential problems and to insure thaG..an accurate census is taken, I propose that the Fort Worth City Council support a "Complete Count Census Committee" to obtain support from all Fort Worth residents concerning the 1980 census. LEGALITY FISCAL NOTE [ CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS F v • _ POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGE2.OF3 The Planning Department, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and community representatives already have had several meetings to develop strategies to insure that residents are aware of and participate in the 1980 Census. It is especially important that minority and lower-income residents be reached, since they have been traditionally undercounted in previous census: The Census Bureau is publicizing the 1980 Census, however, strong local efforts are needed to insure that an accurate census is taken locally. The "Complete Count Census Committee" would be given responsibility to coordinate the work in the following areas: 1. Werk with leaders of minority communities to get them involved in campaign for participation. This includes making sure a sufficient number of Spanish-language forms are available and that Spanish- speaking residents know how to obtain them. 2. Promote the 1980 Census through the schools and PTA's. 3. Publicize the 1980 Census through flyers in water bills and other utility bills. Place posters in public locations. 4. Develop spot ads for local TV, radio stations and community-oriented papers. 5. Work with neighborhood organizations to supply census enumerators from their neighborhoods, since they will be more familiar with the neighbor- hoods. 6. Coordinate closely with local census officials to make sure that their map coverage and information on the Fort Worth area is complete. 7. Establish an ad hoc committee of experts to review Census figures when supplied to City and local officials. 8. Get political leaders such as City Council members involved in publicity and participation efforts. 9. Work on removing "invasion of privacy" stigma from census. 10. Working through local media to make sure that attention is focused on the Census, particularly as April 1, 1980, approaches. Policy Recommendations 1. That a "Complete Count Census Committee" be appointed by the City Council. 2. That the City Council and City staff support in every way possible the effort to achieve a full Census count in Fort Worth. This especially includes participating in and assisting the Complete Count Census Committee. It also includes working with local community leaders and encouraging them to "promote" census participation in their communities. CITY OF FORT WORTH s_ � POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGEOF Legality No legal implications perceived if strictly limited to parameters specified. Fiscal Note At this time, it is not known what the extent of the expense might be from such a program. If it is in the range of $2000-$3000, it can probably be covered by the present City Council budget or savings in other categories. City Manager's Comments The City Manager concurs with this Policy Proposal. The appointment of a Complete Count Census Committee could provide valuable assistance to the City staff by encouraging all citizens to fully complete their 1980 census forms. The data derived from the 1980 Census will be extremely important to the staff when submitting grant applications for State and Federal funds and also could be a decisive factor in determining the amount of General Revenue Sharing Funds received by the City. Louis Zapata, Councilman District 2 CITY Or FORT WORTH, TEXAS T HEtplp?3SENTED ECT MATTER OF THIS M. & C. C. TO THE CITY COUNCIL 7 WAS AppHOVL� v. 71,,it Ci+,F Secretary CITY OF FORT WORTH