Hector Maldonado is now in charge of Census 2010 in the Rio Grande Valley. He reports directly to the Census Bureau’s Chief of Field Division, Brian Monaghan.

SAN JUAN, May 18 - The network weaver for the Equal Voice for America’s Families has called for one last big push from colonia residents to ensure everyone is counted under Census 2010.

“We are in the final stretch, so it is time to keep the energy going,” said Mike Seifert.

Update/Enumerate is set to end on May 29. This is the U.S. Census Bureau project that has seen tens of hundreds of Census workers go door-to-door in colonias and rural areas in order to record census information. The project is vital because there are approximately a quarter of a million colonia residents in the Rio Grande Valley and about 95 percent of them never received a census questionnaire in the mail.

Seifert gave an example which he said shows what a monumental task the Census Bureau has in the Valley.

“I am talking with the grocery store clerk, and I have on my Proyecto Azteca Census 2010 cap. He asks if I was a census worker and I tell him 'No' but that I was keenly interested in getting everyone in the Valley counted,” Seifert recalled.

“He wants to know why the Census is so important and so I trot out the numbers for him-- roughly $1,400 a year in funding lost for each individual not counted. Or $14,000 a decade not coming to the Valley, but going to Abilene or Dallas or some place else.”

Seifert told the man that $14,000 per person is a lot of money.

“I asked him, ‘How many live at your house?’ and he said, rather sheepishly, ‘ten.’ I looked at him for a moment and said, ‘Those $140,000 could buy a lot of school books and maybe pave a basketball court or two at the park.’ I give him a census flier, tell him to call the number, and I head out the door.”

Seifert said he is not, actually, disappointed to have discovered yet another person who ignored the call to be counted. “I am excited - this census stuff, in so many ways, is like a treasure hunt. If this guy calls his facts in, then our community wins in a big way,” Seifert said.

Tuesday brought a lot of rain to the Valley. Before that the weather was hot. Neither is conducive to going door-to-door getting residents to fill in their census forms, Seifert acknowledged.

“The summer heat has become suffocating. That and all of the frustrations with the census process might well threaten the resolve of those of us who have been working so hard on this census count,” he said.

“We are though, entering into the final phase of the process. There is some time left, but not much, and there is treasure to be found - good folks who, for one reason or another, ignored the first census mailing or were ignored by the counting process. I myself hope that those leaders in the community who have been caught up with their other duties might take another look at this opportunity for our community, and do what they can to get their neighbors counted. All of them, for indeed, every last one counts.”

When Seifert talks about “frustrations with the census process,” he could be referring to the Census Bureau’s decision not to mail census forms to 95 percent of colonia residents. That decision was made in Washington, D.C., a long time ago but not conveyed to colonia residents until late March. The decision dismayed the non-profits that make up the Equal Voice network.

In response to the anger of the non-profits, the Census Bureau sent Hector Maldonado to the Valley. Reporting directly to the Census Bureau’s Chief of Field Division Brian Monaghan, Maldonado has been in the Valley for about four weeks now. He will be here for the duration of the project.

“I am here as long as is needed. My job is to make sure the Valley know that the Census Bureau wants to count each and everybody. I am here to listen to the community-based organizations and the elected officials and to reassure them we want to count everybody in the Valley,” Maldonado told the Guardian.

Maldonado, who was born in Mexico but is now based in Washington, D.C., said the Census Bureau has dispatched 2,000 workers up and down the Valley to make sure everybody gets counted. “We have a lot of people. Our message is ‘open the door and let us count everybody in the house’,” Maldonado said.

An accurate count is important, Maldonado said, because a lot of federal dollars are distributed based on the population count established by the Census. “We know it means a lot for our schools and our roads,” he said.

Maldonado confirmed that the deadline for Update/Enumerate is May 29. “We have a deadline and we intend to meet it. The good thing is the community is responding, they are opening their doors. It’s good for the Valley.”

Ann Cass, executive director of Proyecto Azteca, one of the non-profits within the Equal Voice network, said she is impressed with the work of Maldonado.

“Mr. Maldonado has done a really good job in getting us to start to trust the Census Bureau. He is very cautious about giving us answers if he does not know the answers. If he does not know he will get back to us,” Cass said.

Asked why Maldonado has been sent to the Valley, Cass said: “He told us himself he was sent down here because we raised our voice.”

Both the Equal Voice network and the Census Bureau have been pleased with the role the Valley media has played in promoting Census 2010, telling everyone how important it is and that none of the information can be passed over to Border Patrol or ICE. Among the media outlets to promote the Census heavily has been KGBT 98.5, the most listened to radio station in the Valley.

Last week, KGBT 98.5 held live remotes from colonias in Las Milpas and Penitas. This week, the station will do the same in Edinburg and Alamo, working closely with Project ARISE.

“Our radio stations are all in Spanish and many of our listeners are immigrant workers,” explained Marci Vasquez, who handles national account sales for KGBT. “We want our listeners to know, ‘Hey, it’s OK, open the doors, talk to the census workers because it is only going to help you more.’ We want to help the community.”

Ramona Casas, director of Project ARISE, thanked KGBT for being a “great partner” on census outreach work. “The community knows us. They have a lot of confidence in us and so to hear our workers on the radio talking about the Census is very reassuring. It’s a great partnership,” Casas said.

Asked if there was one message she would like to get out to colonia residents who have yet to be seen by a Census worker, Casas said: “Don’t wait around for someone to find you. Call the Census Bureau’s Spanish language hotline, 1-866-828-2010, or the English language hotline, 866-872-6868. There is ten years of funding for our children riding on this.”

Write Steve Taylor

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