The Smyrna City Council recently formed a Census 2020 Complete Count Committee.
This committee will plan and conduct local educational initiatives, publicity and promotional activities to increase community awareness and participation in the 2020 Census.
In 2010, the Smyrna area had some of the lowest response rates in Cobb County, according to the city resolution.
Undercounting proves detrimental to Smyrna, Cobb County and the State of Georgia since the census count impacts political apportionment and the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars each year during the 10 years between each census.
With the Complete Count Committee (CCC)’s formation, the city can improve educational awareness about the importance of Census 2020 for the community and achieve higher rates of self-response in 2020.
The CCC will have a city staff member appointed as chairperson by the mayor.
Also, the CCC will recruit community leaders from all arenas of life to serve on the committee to come up with ideas for how to increase awareness of the upcoming Census 2020 and to encourage residents to self-respond in March and April when the Census begins.
The CCC will create outreach strategies and help create and coordinate educational initiatives in the community around the importance, safety and ease of participation in Census 2020.
The Census 2020 is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years since 1790, with the next Census scheduled for April 2020.
It is the practice of local governments and the recommendations of the U.S. Census Bureau and the State of Georgia to establish local CCCs to educate residents about Census 2020 and encourage participation in the upcoming census.
Smyrna also is participating in the Cobb County CCC as a part of the county’s planning for Census 2020.
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