Counting on a strong turnout

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- The city is counting on Lance Ungerman and his team of

volunteers to make sure residents fill out their census forms this April.

The City Council in January reassigned Ungerman from his usual post in

the redevelopment office to spend most of his time encouraging reluctant

residents to fill out census forms.

City officials were alarmed after the 1990 census when 4% of residents

weren’t counted here, Ungerman said. He said most did not fill out the

forms because they were wary of how the federal government would use the

information.

But residents who don’t complete the forms are cheating themselves,

Ungerman said -- especially those who live in the city’s lowest-income

neighborhoods, where an even larger percentage were not counted in 1990.

“They’re really shooting themselves in the foot,” said Bill Turpit,

co-chairman of the city’s Census 2000 Committee and president of the

Latino Business Council.

Census data helps the state, county and federal governments determine how

much money to allocate to local schools, libraries and social service

agencies. Census-takers do not release personal information they gather

from the forms.

Traditionally, recent immigrants -- especially undocumented ones -- have

feared filling out the forms, Ungerman said.

“People are afraid that the information won’t remain confidential,” said

Mirna Burciaga, owner of El Chinaco restaurant and also a member of the

city’s Census 2000 Committee.

“Many didn’t grow up with a tradition of filling out census forms, so

they don’t know what it means,” Turpit said. “And some people grew up

with a strong suspicion of government.”

However, immigrants aren’t the city’s only residents who have that

feeling.

“While new immigrants in the West Side might fear the INS, well-off

people living in Mesa Verde may be wary of the IRS,” Turpit said.

Part of the city’s outreach effort will take place Thursday between 7:30

and 9:30 a.m., when a team of U.S. Census Bureau employees will be camped

out at Wilson Elementary School in the Census Road Tour motor home.

The census team will distribute magnets and fliers and show flashy videos

describing the process.

“We want to bring it down to a person-to-person level,” Turpit said. “The

word will get out if everyone, from the nurse giving shots in the arm to

pastors and teachers, tell people about the importance of the census.”

The committee is also planning a communitywide talent show, open to the

public, on March 26. Event organizers will sneak in census education

between acts.

“A lot of people like to have fun,” Burciaga said. “It’s a good way to

get the information out there.”