Yuma mayor challenges fellow leaders to census contest

Community with highest percent change will win ‘bragging rights’

Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls on Friday kicked off a challenge to help promote and encourage residents to complete their U.S. Census for 2020.

In a video posted to social media, Nicholls challenged “fellow community leaders” to “get together with your communities, make sure that everyone’s getting counted.”

For the contest, during the month of August, the changing percentage will be tracked every week for each community. “At the end of the month whoever has the highest percent change will be the winner of bragging rights for this census challenge,” Nicholls said.

The mayor noted that Yuma currently has a 51.7% response rate. “We obviously need to get to the 100% level,” he said in the video, which was filmed in the Yuma City Hall lobby. “So I fully expect my city of Yuma residents to get out, make sure you have taken care of your census count, make sure your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers, and your family members are all counted because together we’re stronger. We can do this for our community. Let’s get out and get counted, Yuma.”

In an early Friday email, Lucy Valencia, Yuma’s intergovernmental affairs coordinator, explained that Nicholls would invite the mayors and a county supervisor of the 4FrontED megaregion to participate in a contest to see which community can up their census count the most in one month as “part of a greater effort to help boost census completion in our area.”

Specifically, Valencia named Somerton Mayor Gerardo Anaya, San Luis Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Sanchez, Wellton Mayor Cecilia McCollough and Yuma County Supervisor Martin Porchas.

4FrontED, an organization that promotes the megaregion that stretches from Wellton to Mexicali as a single economic region to attract industry, also includes Yuma, Somerton, San Luis, Ariz., San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, Yuma County, Arizona Department of Transportation, and the Cocopah Indian Tribe.

Throughout the year Nicholls has been urging citizens to respond to the census, noting that if Yuma’s population numbers aren’t accurate, the city will not get the funding it needs. He has stressed that state and federal revenues for the next 10 years will depend on the population count.

Yuma is expected to officially cross the 100,000 mark with this census count.

To fill out the census, go to www.my2020census.gov or call 1-844-330-2020.