Week in Review : Ventura County : Schaefer Feels Heat for Letter on Census

Ventura County Supervisor Madge Schaefer earlier criticized the Census Bureau for what she described as its “inexcusably mismanaged” one-night effort to count the homeless in Ventura County. But last week, the Census Bureau said it is looking into whether Schaefer violated federal confidentiality laws by disclosing which homeless shelters were visited by census takers.

Census Bureau spokesman Larry Bryant said Schaefer allegedly violated Title XIII, the confidentiality portion of the U.S. code. As a sworn “cultural agent” to help census takers in their all-night sweep for Ventura County’s homeless March 20, she was legally bound not to reveal any information that the bureau considered confidential, Bryant said.

Schaefer, a Republican from Thousand Oaks, said she had not been contacted about the matter by the Census Bureau--only reporters--and is not taking the allegation seriously. “What are they going to do, send me to the federal pen?” she asked.

The maximum penalty for violating the confidentiality law is five years in prison.

“I’m much more concerned about getting another night to finish counting the homeless than any violation,” Schaefer said.

In a March 22 letter to John Reeder, the bureau’s California director, she complained that bureau officials failed to provide enough Spanish-language questionnaires and employ enough bilingual census takers to communicate with homeless people who speak only Spanish.

It is that letter that has prompted the allegation, Bryant said. In the letter that Schaefer made public, she mentioned three homeless shelters she visited with census takers March 20, launching the dusk-to-dawn search.

In its effort to assure the public that no census information will be released, bureau officials have said the names of shelters it visits are confidential.

Although Reeder has not received the letter officially through the mail, he was sent a facsimile by the Simi Valley Enterprise, Bryant said. Reeder, in turn, sent a facsimile to Census Bureau lawyers in Washington, who are reviewing it. “We don’t have any official word yet,” he said. “We are still looking into it.”

“I’m not concerned at all,” Schaefer said. “If I have to cop a plea, I will agree that I did indeed allow myself to be driven by the director of the census in Ventura County to the shelter of his choice. He instructed reporters to follow him.”

Randy E. Metcalf, the bureau’s regional supervisor, invited a dozen news reporters and photographers to join him at several homeless centers on March 20. At a news conference before embarking as Schaefer’s chauffeur, he read a list of shelters on their itinerary.