PORT ANGELES — A regional Census manager has lauded Clallam and Jefferson counties for leading the state in 2010 U.S. census participation.
Across the North Olympic Peninsula, 80 percent of the households that received a census form in the mail sent one back, saving taxpayers $56 a pop that the federal government would have spent going door-to-door to do follow-ups.
“That is a major accomplishment,” Eric Davenport, senior partnership specialist with the Seattle Regional Census Center, told the three Clallam county commissioners last week.
By comparison, the statewide average for mailing back a census form was 74 percent. The national average was 72 percent.
Census data is used to allocate federal funds and to draw legislative boundaries for equal representation.
Davenport thanked Clallam County commissioners Mike Doherty, Steve Tharinger and Mike Chapman — along with Department of Community Development Director John Miller — for their outreach efforts in a presentation at the weekly commissioner’s meeting.
Fabulous leadership
“You guys did a fabulous job in terms of leadership,” Davenport said last Tuesday.
Davenport presented the commissioners with a framed certificate of appreciation and a crystal plaque.
Census officials will make a similar presentation to Jefferson County commissioners Sept. 13.
At the Aug. 9 Port Townsend City Council meeting, Davenport said the city “stepped forward and did a lot during this campaign to provide brochures and space and provided an example of excellent partnering.”
He said the 80 percent return was “a very significant number.”
The U.S. Census Bureau launched a major marketing campaign last spring to encourage participation.
The cost of following up with households that didn’t return a 10-question form was somewhere between $80 million and $90 million nationally, Davenport said.
“The reason that we put so much emphasis on returning the questionnaires that are sent out is because there is a direct budget impact,” Davenport said.
“It takes 44 cents to mail that [form] back. It takes $56 to send somebody out to collect the information.”
Davenport also thanked on-the-ground operative Rex Springer, who spearheaded the census campaign in Clallam County.
In 2000, Clallam County had a 72 percent participation rate. Jefferson County’s mail-back rate was 75 percent in the last go-round.
Not so tough
“I was told by people that Clallam County was going to be a tough place,” Davenport said.
“But when I got around and I visited the different communities and I met with people . . . the citizens here are some of the most hospitable, welcoming people that I have come across in all of my travels.”
Davenport was responsible for coordinating the census outreach in 13 counties in Western Washington and southeast Alaska.
His beat accounted for five of the top six counties for census participation in Washington, with Island (78 percent), Kitsap (77 percent) and Skagit (77 percent) counties near the top of the list.
The U.S. Constitution requires that census data is delivered to the president by Dec. 31. It will be sent to the state governors in February, and made available to the public in April, Davenport said.
Doherty, who led the census effort at the county level, thanked Springer and the local tribes and chambers of commerce for stepping up.
Chapman said that Davenport’s message about saving tax dollars by returning a census form resonated with the Clallam County citizenry.
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Reporter Charlie Bermant contributed to this story.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
