Windsor Mayor Frank Mizell receives a pin from Aiken County Counts' Chris Ceasar. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

City leaders kick off census partnership

Web posted February 23, 2000

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By Pat Willis
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN -- Ten years ago, Aiken County lost up to $62 million because approximately 2,000 residents did not stand up to be counted in the 1990 census, Aiken County Counts Chairwoman Joan Wilson said Tuesday.

She was speaking to the mayors of almost every municipality in the county, a group out to make sure that every man, woman and child is included in the nation's official enumeration in April.

``When people are missed, we lose money, and it hurts us,'' said North Augusta Mayor Lark Jones, who attended the Census 2000 Kickoff to sign a joint agreement supporting the Census 2000 Partnership Program.

The partnership is working to reach all parts of the county and all segments of the population, especially those considered hard to count. They include people unable to fill out census forms for themselves, residents of rural areas whose homes might have been missed in the last count, and immigrants who do not speak the language and who might be suspicious of government.

``The partnership program is the first of its kind. It will ensure a better count and will help South Carolina provide a better quality of life for its citizens,'' said Thomas Spratt, deputy director of intergovernmental relations for the governor's office.

Federal dollars for schools, employment services, housing assistance, highway construction, hospital services, programs for the elderly and other services are distributed from figures gleaned in the census, said Chris Ceasar, Aiken

County Counts spokeswoman.

``The information given in the census will remain confidential. By law, not even the president of the United States can access it,'' she said.

Census Day is set for April 1, but the forms are scheduled to be mailed in mid-March. Most households will receive a short form in the mail that contains questions on seven subjects: name, gender, age, relationship, Hispanic origin, race and length of residence at the address.

It is the shortest version of the census in 180 years, census officials say.

One in six households will receive the long form, which asks the same seven questions and adds ones on educational level, ancestry, employment, disability and house heating fuel. In some rural areas, as many as half the households might receive the long form.

``A larger sample is needed to ensure that as much detailed information comes from rural areas as the more densely populated cities,'' said Lillie Eng-Hirt, director of the district census office in Anderson.

Reach Pat Willis at (803) 279-6895.