Countywide : Census Offices Get Requests for Forms

U.S. Census offices in Orange County have been flooded with telephone calls in recent days from residents who have not received questionnaires, even though the official deadline for completing and returning the once-a-decade national survey was Sunday.

The bulk of the queries came from South County residents, most of them newcomers whose homes were built during the past year, officials said Monday.

Bill Bellamy, census director in the Irvine office that serves South County, said his office has received 200 to 300 calls from residents requesting questionnaires. The Buena Park office reported about 75 calls, while the Fullerton and Santa Ana offices have also received numerous requests.

Although the Census Bureau first began surveying the county in mid-1989 to put together a mailing list, thousands of houses have been built since then, Bellamy said. The census has done occasional updates, but the last of those is only now being completed.

The problem has been particularly acute in South County, where the bulk of the growth has occurred. Upward of 10,000 questionnaires for South County residents on the updated list are expected to be mailed out by the middle of next week, Bellamy said.

While the official deadline was Sunday, residents have until mid-April to return the forms without expecting a call or visit from a census enumerator, bureau officials say.

Even so, residents who haven’t heard from the census should call their closest district office to ask that a new form be sent, Bellamy said.

The bureaus can be reached by calling these phone numbers: Irvine, (714) 476-6500; Santa Ana, (714) 668-1000; Buena Park, (714) 994-8000, and Fullerton, (714) 449-8800.