Census Count Starts With Awareness Drive to Promote Response

Like soldiers getting a pep talk before battle, the community activists were reminded of the importance of their census work before they hit the street over the weekend.

“In poor communities, my people are humble and think they don’t matter. You have to look them in the eye and tell them they do matter,” Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) told the 40 or so volunteers. “Now is a time of sacrifice. Believe me, it will come back to you 10 times.”

Toting posters and tape, several participants then took to Van Nuys Boulevard to raise awareness about the upcoming 2000 census.

Most businesses--auto parts stores, medical offices, mini-marts--welcomed the posters. But one hair salon owner was less cooperative, said Hardy Garcia, 31, of Sun Valley.

“They asked, ‘How much are you going to pay us to put up the poster?’ ” she said. “This [work] is for the good of the community. We turned around and left.”

The participants gathered at the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services office for training sponsored by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Next month, households will receive census forms due April 1. Between March and June, census workers and volunteers will canvass neighborhoods to reach residents who didn’t return the forms, said Louisa Ollague, the defense fund’s regional census director.

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The activists said northeast Valley residents were undercounted 10 years ago and were seeking to avoid the same problem this time around.

During the 1990 census, a Pacoima tract near Van Nuys and Glenoaks boulevards and San Fernando Road had a response rate of 49.6%, one of the lowest in Los Angeles County, Census Bureau officials said.

“If we have an undercount again, these communities aren’t going to get the revenues they deserve,” Cardenas said.

The volunteers shared a desire to bring more money and political representation to the area by getting an accurate population count.

“If we [get] the numbers, we get another [congressional] seat. Each seat represents money, jobs, power, education, child care--the whole gamut our tax dollars pay for,” said Augustine Maldonado, 59, of North Hills.

Participants also wanted assurances that census data won’t be shared with other government agencies, such as the INS--a concern among many immigrants.

“How do they know these things are going to be confidential?” said Jose A. Maldonado, co-director of the Los Angeles Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance. “[Otherwise], we’re the ones who end up being used to manipulate our communities, and we don’t want that.”

Under federal law, personal census information may not be released to other government agencies, such as the police, district attorney, INS or IRS, census officials said.

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Jose Roy Garcia, 45, of Sun Valley, a native of El Salvador, said he understands immigrants’ fears and suspicions.

“I came here without papers. In El Salvador, the census is used to control people, not to give to communities economically,” Garcia said.

Some student volunteers came for the experience. Evelyn Medina and her 14-year-old sister, Mabel, both San Fernando High School students, entered several businesses to ask for permission to tape posters onto doors and windows.

“You have to tell them in a friendly way, and when I leave, I say, ‘Have a nice day,’ ” said Evelyn, 17, of Pacoima.

Nancy Joge, a Mission College student, said she volunteered because census data affects school funding and she wants more money for new programs and construction at her school.

“You get to meet a lot of people and help your community,” said Joge, 21, of Pacoima.