Mayor cites importance of Census forum this Wednesday in Madison – New Jersey Hills

It’s a question with many answers — and all of them will be spelled out at a Census 2020 meeting co-sponsored by the Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center in Morristown at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, Madison.

Madison Mayor Robert Conley is encouraging concerned citizens to attend the meeting, citing the importance of promoting an accurate and comprehensive Census.

“The Census touches all of our lives in ways most of us never realize,” Mayor Conley explained. “Ensuring an accurate count of every person in Madison, our municipalities, our county and our state, safeguards our ability to receive representation, funding, and resources that will keep our communities and state thriving. From our schools to our roads, every resident counts towards getting our fair share. A child who is not counted in 2020 disappears for ten years, maybe longer; a community that is under-counted in 2020 may disappear forever.”

Conley stressed the importance of making sure that “everyone in our lives” — children, senior citizens, neighbors, friends, and family — are counted.

“I’m proud to partner with the U.S. Census Bureau and Wind of the Spirit to make this happen,” the mayor said.

Melissa Elias of Madison, an organizer of Wednesday’s forum observed, “Madison is among many New Jersey municipalities believed to suffer an under-count in 2010. A municipality with a healthy representation of seniors, young children, Latinos, renters and other hard-to-count populations, we are finding ways to reach all Madison residents, those elsewhere in Morris County and across New Jersey to ensure a united effort to ‘Get Out the Count.’

“Please join us — Madison Mayor Bob Conley, Wind of the Spirit and the U.S. Census Bureau — next Wednesday, November 6 at 7 p.m. to learn about how you can participate in making our democracy work for all of us,” Elias appealed.

Coming Up Fast

Census 2020 is right around the corner.

“The entire state will suffer if not everyone is counted,” according to a statement from Wind of The Spirit. “Schools, roads, environment, healthcare, housing, food resources, social services, senior services — all depend on billions of federal dollars. Important planning data will be lost if not everyone is counted.”

The New Jersey effort to reach hard-to-count (HTC) populations is led by the N.J. State Complete Count Commission and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Wind of the Spirit, a U.S. Census Bureau Complete Count Committee and member of the Census 2020 NJ Coalition Steering Committee, is spearheading Morris County efforts to identify and engage all HTC communities — low-income households, black and African-American, Asian and Latino and LGBTQ populations, immigrants, non-native English speakers, young children, senior citizens, renters, the disabled, veterans and the homeless.

The committee likewise coordinates efforts in Warren, Sussex, Union, Essex, Hudson and Somerset counties and shares models statewide.

“Next year includes new challenges to collecting data,” the resource center’s statement adds. “A digital platform will be introduced to the census process in March 2020, a system that raises concerns about privacy, cyber security and universal access in the face of an increasing digital divide.

“Although a citizenship question will not be included, the lasting effects of that conversation and current events have caused nationwide distrust of government and fears, unfounded or not, have grown exponentially nationwide,” according to Wind of the Spirit.