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Census gets started on door to door Photo by Jim Craven Census enumerators Karen Hunter-Rose and Rocky Muse walked the streets of Rogue River last week, contacting households that had not returned or not received their Census forms. Enumerators use foot power to fill in missing households By JESSICA SMITH Boyd Gibson didn't want the government to miss him. So when he found a U.S. Census form lying on a counter at Bi-Mart, he snatched it, filled out it and mailed it in. "I filled it and out and I felt better about the whole thing," said Gibson, 77, a former school administrator who lives on the outskirts of west Medford. Gibson's household is one of thousands in Jackson County the government missed when it mailed out Census forms in March. The government's ability to track down the missed Gibsons, Smiths and Joneses of Jackson County is vital to the success of the 2000 U.S. Census, officials say. An undercount in the 1990 Census for Jackson County cost the county millions of dollars. While two out of three households in Oregon and Jackson County have returned their Census forms, counting the remaining households will determine whether rural Oregonians get adequate representation in Congress or their fair share of federal money for roads, schools and other governmental services. In Rogue River, Shady Cove and other parts of rural Southern Oregon, officials worry people living in sparsely populated areas will be missed in the count because Census forms weren't delivered to homes that get mail at post office boxes. Census officials promise that enumerators will make visits to those households during the face-to-face count between now and June 10. But Gibson said he didn't want to take any chances. "I don't ever remember being counted in the Census," he said. "I wanted to make sure this time I was." Most of the folks in Shady Cove and Rogue River shared those concerns after learning in mid-April that they, too, would not receive forms because they do not live on mail delivery routes. About 80 percent of the households in Shady Cove get mail at a post office box; the same is true for about 70 percent of Rogue River's households. Rogue River Mayor Dick Handbury, who did not receive a Census form, said he is confident that everyone in his town will get to participate in the national roll call. "I've not been called on yet by the Census takers but I'm absolutely convinced that they're going to do everything they can to get everybody counted," Handbury said. Census enumerators began canvassing Shady Cove last week, and Mayor Tom Anderson said he's encouraged by what he's seen. "They're out all over the place," he said. "I'm satisfied -- I couldn't ask for any greater effort than that." Enumerators have been going door-to-door since April 29. In the coming weeks, they'll hit each uncounted household as many as six times. Anita Kalbfleisch, who heads up the Census efforts in Jackson County, said the house-by-house count is off to a good start -- but a surprising number of people are turning enumerators away. "They see us coming and they're not opening their doors," Kalbfleisch said. "We are getting a lot of refusals and a lot of people telling us they want us to get off their property." One out of five Jackson County residents have refused to answer any questions, she added. The long Census forms -- which ask 34 to 59 questions about each household member's ethnicity, annual income and personal life -- seem to be drawing the most refusals, Kalbfleisch said. The refusals are cause for concern for Census officials and community leaders who don't want the region undercounted. About 2 percent of the county's 146,389 residents in 1990 didn't make the last decade's count, officials said. That meant about 3,000 residents were excluded from the '90 Census, each representing an estimated $3,000 loss in federal and state funding over the past 10 years, said Mike Steenhout, who is coordinating the count in Southern Oregon from the regional office in Eugene. If 2 percent of the county's 1999 population -- estimated at 174,550 -- went uncounted this year, the county could lose a total of $10.5 million over the next decade, Steenhout said. But it's not just money that makes the Census important, said Rebecca Reid, director of the Southern Oregon Regional Services Institute, a regional data clearinghouse. "It's our one-in-every-10-years picture of our community," she said, adding that the Census is how many smaller communities get data on their residents. Demographic surveys are valuable tools for planning but they are expensive. Most towns in Southern Oregon can't afford to pay private companies for the kind of community profile provided by the Census, Reid said. State and local agencies use the Census as a guide when they build roads, schools and other services. The profiles also help local governments plan for future housing. Businesses use the numbers when trying to determine where to locate new factories, shopping centers and other commercial buildings. "And if we don't have that data, we're planning in the dark," Reid said. When they encounter less-than-cooperative people, enumerators try to explain how the Census influences funding and planning. And they emphasize the bureau's confidentiality policy. But some residents still don't want to participate, said Rocky Muse, an assistant enumerator crew leader in Rogue River. "They tell us it's none of the government's business" whether they drive to work, have indoor plumbing or went to college, he said. "Most of our refusals out here have been polite but it just boggles my mind that so many people are being uncooperative," he added. It's easy to understand why some residents refuse to answer questions that may seem intrusive, Mayor Handbury said. "Some of the information the government seeks seems unnecessary," he said. But he encourages skeptics to participate by giving enumerators the basics -- their names, the names of other members in the house and the like -- in hopes that most of the region's residents get counted. "Now we'll just have to sit back and see what happens," he said. Census officials encourage Jackson County residents who didn't receive a form to call the Eugene Census office at (888) 325-7733. For more information about the 2000 Census, visit the Web site www.census.gov. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA