March 10, 2000
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has awarded a $2,500 grant to the City of Encinitas Community Development Department to promote the forthcoming Census 2000 effort. SANDAG established the San Diego Region Census 2000 Complete Count Committee (CCC) in 1998 to involve local elected officials and community leaders in implementing outreach activities to historically undercounted groups.
With the grant, the City of Encinitas Community Development Department and El Napolito, a local Mexican restaurant will hold a neighborhood celebration and census awareness party at 560 Santa Fe Drive on Sunday, March 19, 2000. The event is part of a region wide media blitz in coordination with other jurisdictions, SANDAG, and SANDAG's Regional Complete Count Committee to educate and promote participation in the forthcoming Census 2000 effort. Census Day is April 1, 2000.
The event will last from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and features a 7-piece mariachi band, face painters, balloons, and catering. Prizes donated from local merchants will be raffled to event attendees. City and local Census Bureau staff, and City Councilmembers will be present to discuss the importance and confidentiality of the Census. Bilingual staff members will also be on hand to translate.
Additionally, the grant will be used to target over 10,000 households within the San Dieguito Water District service area by including a Census promotional and informational insert within each household's water bill.
The San Diego region had the second-highest undercount in California (after Los Angeles) following the 1990 Census. The City of Encinitas experienced a loss of 1.4% or 802 persons, which translates into a loss of almost $100 million in federal funding that could have come to the city over the last decade. The Census Counts are used to distribute billions of federal dollars to our communities for health care, roads, schools, and services, and determine each state's representation in Congress.
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