Reed rolls out census effort to count Atlantans

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hoping to do a better job than was done 10 years ago, Mayor Kasim Reed on Monday launched the city's campaign to get every Atlantan counted in the upcoming census.

Referring to an undercount as “malpractice” because of the political and financial ramifications, Reed unveiled his census plan: a Web site (ATLcensus2010.org ) created to help generate public awareness, a promise to crisscross the city this month to create interest in the census and a partnership with leaders in hard-to-reach communities to help coax participation.

"An accurate census count helps ensure that Atlanta receives its fair share of more than $400 billion in federal funds to provide our residents and business-owners with the quality of life they expect and deserve," said in a news conference at City Hall.

He's got his work cut out for him. Atlanta had a response rate of 59 percent in 2000. The national average was 67 percent, U.S. Census Bureau leaders said.

Reed was told by federal officials earlier this year that the city and  state are behind in census outreach. And Reed is trying to raise $200,000 to get the word out at a time when budgets are tight.

Census forms are expected to begin  arriving in mailboxes March 15. Enumerators will be dispatched after April 1 to residences that did not return the forms.

The census determines funding for everything from school lunch programs to roads to senior citizens centers. It also is used to allocate congressional seats. Georgia is widely expected to gain at least one seat, possibly two.

Rafael Maldonado, a member of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce  and a partner in the mayor's effort, said the key will be taking the message directly to citizens.

"There is always going to be a level of mistrust," Maldonado said. "It is very critical that we educate."

Despite what he's heard from national leaders about Atlanta's and Georgia's preparedness, Reed is confident there's time left to convince residents about the importance of filling out and returning the forms.

"This is a will problem; this is not a time problem," he said. "This is completely doable."