Carmel response a fraction of others

CARMEL >> While most of Monterey County is responding to the U.S. Census at a rate of at least 60%, there is one glaring exception — Carmel. Only 28% of Carmel residents have responded to the Census, which could have deeper consequences than just in the seaside enclave.

By comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau reports next-door neighbor Pacific Grove is at 71.5%, as of Friday. The second lowest in the county, Salinas, still has twice the response rate as Carmel. The community with the highest rate is Del Rey Oaks at 81.3%. California is pulling in a 69.4% response rate. Indeed, there are no cities on the Central Coast with a lower response than Carmel.

For each person not counted, more than $2,000 per person in federal aid in Monterey County will be lost annually, or $20,000 per person over 10 years until the next census, according to the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

The reasons are not entirely clear. In a report by

Nigel Duara of CALmatters, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that examines California policy and politics, a UCLA professor who teaches a course on the Census, Natalie Masuoka , suggests residents of wealthier areas might be staying in more isolated second homes elsewhere to avoid the more dense COVID-19 areas.

Carmel Mayor Dave Potter has another idea. The city of Carmel has provided literature extolling the importance of the census, as well as information on the city’s website. City Administrator Chip Rerig even wears a “Census 2020” ballcap during his weekly video blogs.

“I think a lot of people just don’t understand the importance of filling it out,” Potter said. “For some, it might just be another government survey. But this has greater importance because it means House (of Representatives) seats.”

The Constitutional basis for conducting the census is to reapportion the U. S. House of Representatives. Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the Houses among the 50 states.

Any undercount in California could jeopardize the number of House seats apportioned to the state, as well as federal funding.

The UCL A professor told CA Lmatters that when undercounts occur and less federal funding is available for services like schools, it will affect wealthier locations less because they can send their children to private schools. Additionally, higher- end communities are less reliant on social services.

There are groups of people that have historically been under- counted — the Census Bureau refers to them as “hard to count” — and will require significant outreach, said Rosemary Soto at the start of the census effort. Soto is a management analyst with the county’s administrative office and the lead on bringing together different city and county agencies and nonprofit service providers under the umbrella of the Complete Count Committee.

Monterey County has one of the highest hardto- count populations in California. Out of a population of 437,907, 35% or 151,262 people live in hard-to- count areas.

Hard-to-count populations are mostly low-income communities, immigrants, indigenous communities, the homeless, people of color and children ages 0 - 5, according to the Community Foundation, which is a part of the outreach effort.

For the first time, most questionnaires will be collected online, making it difficult for households that lack digital access to participate. Nearly one in 10 of Monterey County’s households have either no internet access or dial uponly.

That is not the case in Carmel.