Coronavirus Threat Changes Census Approach in Athens
By: Aaron Brandenburg
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ATHENS, Ohio– As with all other cities and towns across the country, Athens is preparing for the 2020 census, but some aggressive plans to motivate student respondents have now changed.
Athens formed a Complete Count Committee for the 2020 census in order to help get as high a response rate as possible. County Commissioner Chris Chmiel, who serves as the chairperson of the committee, said the committee is “bombarding people with awareness.”
Because they had a poor response rate in the last census, Chmiel has made off-campus students his priority.
Every household should receive a letter about completing the census by April 1. Before the social distancing brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Chmiel said he had planned to host a census fest complete with speakers to flesh out information about the Census. He said the fest would have been part of the fun things they were trying to do.
The committee is still trying to spread awareness on social media by creating Facebook and Instagram pages named Athens County Counts.
One other plan still possible even after the pandemic is his work with Donkey Coffee and Espresso, which is to create a drink called the census latte featuring dark chocolate, white chocolate, vanilla, whipped cream and sprinkles.
Ben Ziff, manager at Donkey Coffee, said the business is interested in helping because of the importance of the census.
“It only happens every 10 years, and it’s an incredibly important and fundamental piece of how local, state and national government actually function,” he said.
According to 2020census.gov, The funding contributes to more than 100 federal programs. With more people, more money for projects like roads, schools, and Medicaid becomes available.
The census also has implications on the distinctions of cities. Each state has a different set of guidelines for the minimum population requirement of a city. Ohio has a requirement of 5,000 people for an established city to stay a city. Nelsonville is an example of a city that could be impacted by the requirement, as their population in 2018 was estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 5,183. On the state level, the census determines how many seats in the House of Representatives Ohio will have for the next decade, which in turn impacts electoral votes.
The 2020 census can be completed by mail, by phone, or online. College students are supposed to report where they live the most throughout the year, and the responses cannot be disclosed.
Homes that haven’t responded to the census will receive a visit from census takers starting in May. The census is still hiring census takers. The application and requirements can be found on the website 2020census.gov.