February 19, 2010

"For every 100 people whom the decennial U.S. census misses," writes Nikole Hannah-Jones in this morning's Oregonian, "Multnomah County misses out on $1.2 million in federal money." In the 2000 census, it's estimated that more than 6,000 people weren't counted in Multnomah County.

Nick and County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury are Co-Chairing a Complete Count Committee, working with local groups to increase the number of people counted in the 2010 Census. So far, the Committee has distributed $150,000 to local groups that work closely with historically undercounted communities.

The Committee has also put together two public service announcements to raise awareness of the Census and the importance of being counted. See the Committee's public service announcements at Commissioner Kafoury's blip.tv site and check out the Complete Count Committee's website at pdxcensus2010.org.