2010 census gears up in Los Angeles

Thousands of government workers are canvassing neighborhoods and verifying addresses in Los Angeles and across the nation, marking the beginning of the once-in-a-decade statistical portrait of America: the U.S. census.

Though the population count won’t begin until next year, census workers began identifying 145 million addresses earlier this month. For the first time, workers are using GPS technology that enables them to pinpoint exact locations, which the government says will ensure that people are counted in the right location and improve the accuracy of the census.

The U.S. Census Bureau has also begun its massive mobilization effort, reaching out to local governments and community groups to educate the public about the census in hope of boosting participation and reducing the number of people who go uncounted. Census officials said that will be difficult in a region like Los Angeles, where multi-family households are increasingly common, homeless people crowd city streets and immigrants speak hundreds of languages.

“Los Angeles is a pretty complicated place to do a census,” said James Christy, director of the Los Angeles regional census center. “It’s a tougher place to get a good count.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry led the city’s efforts to get the word out about the 2000 census and said one of the greatest challenges was counting populations traditionally hesitant to speak with authorities.

Religious groups, health clinics and after-school programs all played a critical role, she said.

“The census is almost like one of the most massive undertakings that we can take in our lives, to be able to count and to document and to describe who we are,” Perry said. “It’s almost like organizing a military operation because it’s like organizing a campaign, but the campaign is based on the premise of goodwill.”

The results of the census, which is required by the Constitution, are used to redraw congressional districts and will guide the distribution of billions in federal funds for schools, roads and social service programs.

Los Angeles city officials estimate that the undercount from the 2000 census cost the city $184 million in federal funds. Determined to reduce that number, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has opened a census office and appointed a community organizer to run it.

“We have a vested interest in making sure that the census bureau’s efforts in L.A. are successful,” said Norma Vega, who runs that office.

Councilman Jose Huizar, whose district includes Boyle Heights and parts of downtown, said some of the hardest groups to count include immigrants, children and the homeless.

Huizar said he has made it a priority to get the message out that people should not be afraid of the census. By law, information about individuals is not shared, even with government agencies.

“We’ve got to remind people in these populations in particular that this information will remain private,” Huizar said.

Children are difficult to count because many split their time between individual parents’ households; in addition, parents often forget to include those who are away at college, regional director Christy said.

Several community groups, including the Korean American Coalition of Los Angeles, have held events promoting the census.

“For us, it’s all about political empowerment,” coalition director Grace Yoo said. “We wanted the community to be aware that it’s a huge issue.”

Tommy Jacquette works for the Census Bureau as one of the region’s 82 partnership workers, who are assigned to build links with specific communities. Jacquette is reaching out to religious and social-service organizations in Inglewood, Hawthorne and Gardena. About three weeks ago he started giving presentations at churches, drug treatment centers and gang task force offices.

Henry Mendoza, a partnership worker based on the Westside, tells people that the census is a “short, simple, safe process.” Residents will get a basic form that authorities said takes only 10 minutes to complete, instead of a lengthy form used in the past. Census workers will visit homes of those who don’t mail back the forms.

Workers track down the homeless at shelters, in soup kitchens and outdoors just before the day of the count, Christy said.

On a recent afternoon, Mendoza visited the Mar Vista Family Center, which serves more than 300 low-income families in the densely populated neighborhood.

“I don’t think there is anything in my geographical area more important than this neighborhood,” Mendoza told the center’s chief executive, Lucia Diaz, promising to bring census materials to meetings and events. “I want to make sure we utilize you and that we utilize this neighborhood to make sure we get our information out.”

Diaz said an accurate count would be very important to groups such as hers, which often seek federal grants.

“The census does not show that there is actually poverty here,” she said.

Diaz encouraged Mendoza and other census employees at the meeting to help her community by hiring local residents as workers.

The Los Angeles regional office has already hired thousands of workers and plans to hire many more for next year’s count. Christy said the recession and the state’s high unemployment rate have provided a large pool of highly qualified workers.

One of those workers was Myron Thomas, who got laid off this fall from a retail management job. Unable to find a new job or pay his bills, he received an eviction notice from his landlord two days before Christmas. But, that same day, Thomas landed a job as a clerk for the U.S. Census Bureau.

Since then, he has been promoted and is now recruiting other workers. Thomas, who started out earning $12.75 per hour and now makes almost double that, said he feels lucky to work and to be able to offer jobs to others.

“You’d be amazed at the gamut of talent,” he said. “The unemployment is real, man.”

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anna.gorman@latimes.com

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com