Official: 2010 Census Much Easier To Complete

By John Larson

SOCORRO – The 2010 U.S. Census will be less intrusive this time around. That’s according to Tom Chegoya of the Las Cruces Census office, who gave a presentation to the Socorro City Council Jan. 4.
Chegoya said the Census this year is one of the “critical tests in our nation’s history, given the recession and current state of our economy.
“For every person counted it means money coming to the community,” he said. “Funding for infrastructure, education, affordable housing. Money that should come here.
Chegoya said the 2010 census questionnaire will be simplified compared with the 2000 Census.
“This year is so different. There’s only 10 questions,” he said.
“All the information collected is strictly confidential. That’s the law. It can’t be shared with any other governmental agency, even Homeland Security, for example. It’s about the count.”
He said the Census does not care about some of the detailed information that has been asked previously.
“We don’t care about the personal things. We want the count,” Chegoya said.
The City of Socorro has partnered with the county government to “make sure everybody gets counted.”
Councilor Gordy Hicks stressed that a complete count means more funding for the city and the county.
“Those cities and counties that have a higher count will have more,” Hicks said. “They don’t care about families living together or whether someone has papers. I encourage everyone to please respond to the questionnaire.”
Chegoya said the 2010 Census also means employment for local residents.
“There will be many job availabilities here in the county and surrounding areas,” he said. “We figure about 800 are needed as temporary federal workers. Enough to cover the whole county.”
The temporary positions will be needed for door to door follow-ups on those residents that did not send back the form, he said.
The 2010 U.S. Census forms will start going into the mail this week.
More information, and a sample questionnaire, can be found on the Internet at 2010.census.gov.

Official: 2010 Census Much Easier To Complete