The census can confuse the senses

Clarence Fanto
May 16, 2010

LENOX

The amount of misinformation being circulated about the U.S. Census is mind-bending, though perhaps not surprising considering the widespread skepticism and distrust of "big" government.

Given the toxic atmosphere, the 72 percent national response rate for the Census Bureau mailings that went out in mid-March is reassuring -- it's the same as 10 years ago. The Massachusetts rate is identical.

Here in Berkshire County, 73 percent of the forms were returned, an impressive result. The mailings went to physical addresses, not to post office boxes used by many residents. In some South County towns, less than half the population is full-time. Snowbirds were still in warmer climates when the forms were delivered; people were supposed to fill them out and mail them based on where they were living on April 1.

No wonder Clarksburg -- where nearly everyone lives full-time -- had a stellar showing of 85 percent (24th best out of 351 communities statewide), while Otis, with its many clusters of summer cottages, scraped the bottom of the Berkshire list at 35 percent. Other South County towns were also far below par; Alford, New Marlborough, Mount Washington, Sandisfield, Stockbridge and Monterey are all half-deserted in the winter. Hancock, with clusters of condos surrounding Jiminy Peak, also had many no-shows.

Most of Stockbridge has no home mail delivery, so full-time residents had to be personally served. There are folks in Richmond with Pittsfield mailing addresses and in Egremont with Great Barrington addresses. It can get really complicated in sparsely-settled portions of North County. The town of Florida, for example, consists of three distinct villages: "downtown" Florida, Whitcomb Summit and Drury, a tiny community along the Mohawk Trail.

Discrepancies are inevitable.

For the roughly 15,000 Berkshire households that did not return census forms, enumerators are knocking at the door. If they get no response, they'll return up to six times.

There's big money at stake for communities that are undercounted. For each person not included in the final tally, about $2,000 in federal aid to cities and towns is forsaken in the form of support for public services such as hospitals, senior centers, buses, job-training facilities, and many more.

Pittsfield lost $1.6 million in federal funding after the 2000 census because more than 1,000 residents weren't counted. The losses in Lee totaled several hundred thousand dollars.

Beyond the dollars-and-cents impact, Berkshire County may lose its U.S. representative and state senator if the population continues its recent sharp decline. It's tough enough to get attention from Boston and Washington, though Gov. Deval Patrick has been a strong advocate thanks to his part-time residency in Richmond and U.S. Rep. John Olver has always brought home the bacon.

Bottom line: the census count is a Constitutional requirement, so it's a fundamental act of patriotism to take part.

Privacy is guaranteed. As a recent temporary employee of the U.S. Census, I could face a prison sentence of up to 5 years and a $250,000 fine if I divulge anything about individuals with whom I've spoken. In fact, I and my colleagues couldn't even tell our families about specific assignments. That accounts for my frequent, mysterious disappearances from home for hours at a time last month, in case anyone was wondering.

The form takes 5 minutes or less to fill out; the response is valid with name, sex and date of birth for those who don't want to disclose racial or ethnic background.

Critics can nit-pick about duplicate forms and other discrepancies. But the goal of the census is to leave no person uncounted. Nothing is perfect, but this comes close.

There's a small town with two ZIP codes named Erving, population 1,467, along the Mohawk Trail (Route 2) in Franklin County. Every form mailed out was filled in, the only Massachusetts community that can boast a 100 percent return rate. Aside from bragging rights and civic pride, these denizens wanted to make sure they'll get their fair share of government dollars.

Across the country, more than 600,000 census workers wearing official badges and carrying confidential forms guaranteeing secrecy are going door to door to 48 million unresponsive households. In Berkshire County, around 600 of your friends and neighbors are doing the same, trying to make sure we all get what's coming to us. Give them a couple of minutes of your valuable time. A smile would also be nice.