WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS RECEIVE 2020 CENSUS UPDATE

  

Washington County Commissioners heard an update on the ongoing preparation for the 2020 U.S. Census at their meeting today (Tuesday).

Ray Daugbjerg, head of Washington County's Complete Count Committee, spoke with Washington County Commissioners today about the ongoing preparation for the 2020 U.S. Census.

Commissioners spoke with the head of Washington County’s Complete Count Committee (CCC), Ray Daugbjerg, who talked with them on the committee’s work to educate the public on and increase participation in the Census. He also discussed the committee’s efforts to identify hard-to-count areas and populations in the county, and potential ways to reach those.

Daugbjerg said the committee is using a series of work stream plans, with officials in the committee representing various entities in the county, including local schools, churches, and governments. He said the committee’s action plan analysis process involves three phases: education, awareness, and motivation.

Daugbjerg said the county has gotten off to a head start in the Census process, and has taken on a leadership role for several area counties.

 

 

Daugbjerg said typically about 95 percent of people who take the Census respond to it when it is first mailed to them, with the other five percent achieved by subsequent mailings and door-to-door visits.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath said he has noticed a lot of people who are worried about providing information to the government. He said, however, that many of those people will end up giving their privacy away anyway, once they get a cellphone.

Daugbjerg said it is extremely important to build trust with prospective Census takers, so they know what questions will be asked and how their information will be used. He said a list of frequently asked questions on the Census will soon go up on the county and city websites.

Daugbjerg said the ten questions that will be asked on the Census are available to view online at www.census.gov.  He added that a citizenship question will not be on the Census, saying it is “counting people, not citizens”.

Washington County’s Complete Count Committee, formed in October, is comprised of several local entities, including Brenham and Burton schools and governments, Blinn College, and Faith Mission. Texas is one of five states nationwide that has not set up a statewide Complete Count Committee, so the responsibility falls to local groups to ensure everyone is educated on the Census.

The Federal Census is mandated by the Constitution and takes place every ten years. The Census not only determines the distribution of federal funding to the states, but also sets the states’ representation in Congress for ten years.

A Census meeting will be held tonight in Brenham from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library.

Also at today’s meeting, commissioners:

  • Approved the purchase of a 12,000 gallon fuel tank from Hughes Tank Company, Inc., for the new Road and Bridge facility.  The purchase totaled $41,701.
  • Tabled an item to purchase fuel farm equipment from Petroleum Solutions, Inc. for the Road and Bridge facility.  The item was tabled due to a lack of necessary documentation.
  • Approved accounts payable, which included a $55,752 annual payment to the county’s volunteer fire departments for medical and vehicle insurance.
  • Approved contracts with Scott Ballard, Conrad Day, Aaron Kleinschmidt, and John Winkelmann to serve as attorneys for indigent defendants in Washington County District Court.
  • Approved an order affecting representation of indigent defendants in county court.
  • Opened one sealed bid for requests for proposals for administrative services, and requests for qualifications for engineering services, related to the 2020 Texas County Transportation Infrastructure Fund administered by TxDOT.  The lone bid came from GrantWorks.
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