Mayor Greg Nickels has announced a partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and the Seattle 2010 Complete Count Committee headed by former Mayor Norm Rice, former Seattle City Council member Martha Choe, and Rogelio Riojas, president of SeaMar Community Health Centers, to help ensure a full and accurate count in the 2010 Census.

“It’s extremely important that everyone in our city is counted,” said Mayor Nickels in a statement. “Seattle’s Complete Count Committee will work with our community to raise awareness and understanding of the census and to make sure traditionally undercounted populations are represented.”

Beginning early next year, the U.S. Census Bureau will conduct the 2010 Census, which is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and conducted every 10 years. The census count is used for a variety of reasons, including determining representation in Congress and how more than $300 billion in funding is allocated annually through more than 50 federal programs to state, local and tribal governments.

Census questionnaires will be mailed out in mid-March 2010 and will be due on April 1, 2010, which is termed “Census Day.” A second questionnaire will be issued for people who do not respond by the end of April. The Census Bureau will conduct in-person followup for non-responders from May to July 2010.

“We’re pleased that the city of Seattle has assembled one of the country’s largest and most diverse Complete Count Committees," said Ralph Lee, director of the Seattle Regional Census Center, which covers a five-state area. "The 2010 Census is the largest peacetime mobilization in U.S. history. As such, we simply can’t do it alone. We must rely heavily on community partners,”

By law, more than 170 federal programs must distribute their funding according to census counts. Census funding is used for highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, economic development, job training, and social programs, such as Medicaid and Head Start - $300 billion per year.

Undercounting Issue

An increasingly diverse population in the United States has resulted in undercounting of certain populations in Seattle and other U.S. cities. In the 1990 Census, it was estimated that, in Seattle, 11,800 people (2.3 percent of the population) were not counted. Seattle specific figures for the 2000 Census are not available, but in a 2001 U.S. Census Monitoring Board report, it was estimated that in King County, 20,068 people (1.14 percent of the county’s population) were not counted.

If you assume that same percentage for Seattle, an estimated 7,000 Seattle residents were not counted.

The majority of those undercounted were people of color, immigrants and refugees, the homeless, and low-income (King County undercount rates in the 2000 Census were: White-Non-Hispanic (0.96 percent), White-Hispanic (4.57 percent), Black/African American (8.22 percent), Native American (2.52 percent); Asian/Pacific Islander (2.11 percent). This resulted in Seattle not receiving a significant amount of formula-based federal funding through programs for educational agencies, public transportation, road construction/rehabilitation, programs for the elderly, early childhood education and nutrition programs, and others.

Complete Count Committee

The city of Seattle, in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and local businesses and organizations (community-based organizations, faith-based groups, schools, businesses, the media and others) has created the 2010 Seattle Complete Count Committee.

The Committee will develop an awareness/outreach campaign to ensure that all of Seattle’s diverse populations participate in the 2010 Census. The committee is headed up by cochairs:

● Norman B. Rice, former mayor of Seattle/current president of The Seattle Foundation

● Martha Choe, former Seattle City Councilmember/current chief administrative officer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

● Rogelio Riojas, founder/president/CEO, SeaMar Community Health Clinics

For more information, please contact Kenny Pittman, city of Seattle, at 206-684-8364 or kenny.pittman@seattle.gov.