Palacio Podcast
Census 2020 Long Beach: There is Power in Being Counted
Census 2020 is April 1, 2020. Ensuring that all people residing in Long Beach are counted is job one for Julian Cernuda, the City of Long Beach’s 2020 Census Project Manager. He is one of the persons charged with coordinating the Long Beach response to the United States Census Bureau’s data collection effort. Every ten-years, the census is a monumental effort mandated by the United States Constitution, Article One, Section 2.
Julian Cernuda explains there are two main reasons why everyone needs to be counted. One, it determines our political representation.
“…so that basically allows for our political voice to be heard in Washington, D.C…on the federal level, state level, and local level as well.”
The second reason is that it is important is related to funding.
“The federal government uses the census count…to determine how much funding the city of Long Beach will receive for specific programs.”
PalacioMagazine.com sat down with Julian Cernuda, the City of Long Beach’s Project Manager, to talk about the Census process and the range of partners working to ensure that everyone is counted.
More on the Census
According to the City of Long Beach website, “Approximately 95 percent of households will receive correspondence via U.S. mail starting March 12, 2020, providing instructions and inviting them to complete the census.” Respondents will receive up to two reminder notices in March and a mailed questionnaire on the fourth contact attempt in April 2020 if necessary. “After the fourth contact attempt, non-respondents will receive one additional postcard reminder.”
The census process doesn’t end there. In May 2020, the Census Bureau enumerators, as they’re called, will begin conducting follow-up visits to nonresponding addresses/locations to collect information at the door.
Census Timeline
- Census Begins: March 2020
- Census Day: April 1, 2020
- Non-response Follow-up: May-July 2020
- Apportionment Counts: Sent to the President by Dec. 31, 2020
- Redistricting Counts: Sent to the states by April 1, 2021
