Two O.C. Cities Show Top Form in Census Gains

Santa Ana and Anaheim increased their census participation more than any other major cities in the nation, federal officials said Tuesday, putting them on track to receive more government funding.

The showing caps an all-out campaign that marshaled everyone from street vendors to local doctors and teachers in a push for the most complete count possible.

Both cities got three-quarters of their residents to fill out census forms--a rise of 14 percentage points compared to 1990 for Santa Ana and 11 percentage points for Anaheim. They were trailed by Boston, Nashville, Aurora, Colo., Oakland, Riverside and Anchorage.

Officials in Santa Ana and Anaheim, who complained that undercounting during the 1990 census cost them millions in federal funds, were confident Tuesday that they will receive a bigger share of the pie this time around.

Anaheim estimates that it will receive $2,000 in various federal programs for each of the nearly 250,000 residents counted. The city believes it was undercounted by at least 7,300 people in 1990.

The county’s two largest and ethnically diverse cities employed some of the nation’s most aggressive tactics in urging people to complete census forms. Officials and nonprofit groups distributed informational fliers from supermarkets, restaurants, schools and even through taco and ice cream vendors. Doctors and pastors mentioned the importance of the census to patients and parishioners.

“We had census messages coming at our residents from all sides,” said Belinda Garcia, an Orange County census coordinator. “Many of the residents had heard from one source or another about the importance of the census before they got the form.”

Anaheim is believed to be one of the few communities in the nation to focus on counting families who live in motels. Workers hit dozens of motels and discovered far more families than expected, said Linda Dunlap, the executive director of Project Dignity, a group that helps children living in motels.

“Some families have six, seven, eight children,” said Dunlap, adding that one motel alone housed more than 200 children.

The local effort to do a complete count has generated national attention--but not all of it glowing.

Santa Ana was among 15 areas across the nation that Rep. Dan. Miller (R-Fla.) suspected of possible fraud because of the speed with which census officials completed their work. The areas have large minority and immigrant communities, which traditionally have been difficult to count.

But a Census Bureau review of the collections found no anomalies, and the issue has largely been dropped.

Santa Ana officials said they had little choice other than to pull out all the stops for the 2000 census. A decade earlier, the city estimates that the federal government undercounted its population by roughly 4%--mostly Latino immigrants.

Countywide, census officials said that nearly 30,000 of the 50,000 Orange County residents who were missed in the 1990 census were Latinos.

The numbers alarmed both government officials and community activists because funding for a host of programs ranging from child care to social services is determined by census numbers. So they went to work to convince immigrants to be counted.

“We made sure that people knew that the information given to census workers was going to be held in the strictest of confidence,” said Amin David, president of the activist group Los Amigos of Orange County. “I think that convinced a lot of people of the righteousness of the effort.”

Santa Ana and Anaheim weren’t alone.

Huntington Beach also ranked in the top 10 big cities that showed the best improvement in collection of census data. About 77% of the city’s residents completed census forms, compared to 70% in 1990.

Assistant City Manager Richard Barnard said local cable television shows highlighted the importance of filling out the census and the census takers combed the streets at night looking for homeless people in parks and vacant lots.

“They were very aggressive,” he said.

All three cities also place in the national top 10 in overall census participation.

Other California cities also cited by the Census Bureau as “high achievers” were San Jose with a 74% response and San Diego with a 73% response.

The national response rate was up 2% from 1990 but still lower than in 1980 when it was 75%.

“Civil obligation, contrary to skeptical voices, is alive and well across America’s communities,” said Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt in a written statement.

California spent $24 million on various census-awareness projects, uniting assorted civic, religious and business groups.

The updated rate represents the percentage of homes that mailed back a questionnaire, filed it through the Internet, completed a form through telephone interviews or returned a form from a neighborhood assistance center.

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Up for the Count

Here are the big cities across the nation with the largest gain over the last decade in percentage of population filing out Census forms. Here is breakdown of compliance rates:

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City 1990 2000 Chng. Santa Ana 61% 75% +14 Anaheim 64 75 +11 Boston 46 57 +11 Nashville 57 67 +10 Aurora, Colo. 63 73 +10 Oakland 75 65 +08 Riverside 64 72 +08 Anchorage 54 62 +08 Baton Rouge 53 61 +08 Arlington, Va. 61 68 +07 Huntington Beach 70 77 +07

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Source: Census Bureau