PREPARED BY: SANDRA MARQUEZ DATE OF MEETING: 10/28/19
SUBJECT:
TITLE
PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN PABLO REGARDING THE US CENSUS 2020 UPDATE
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Receive presentation and provide feedback and/or direction to staff. The presentation was not available at the time of agenda posting, but it will be provided at the City Council meeting scheduled on Monday, October 28, 2019.
Body
Compliance statements
FY 2019-21 Council Priority Workplan Compliance Statement
Enhance Community Resilience (205. Civic Engagement and 206. Immigration Integration Legislation, Projects & Services), Economic Development and Diversification (405. New Revenue Enhancements), and Expand Housing Options (301. Expand/Explore Affordable Housing Programs) are adopted policy items under the FY 2019-21 Council Priority Workplan, effective March 1, 2019.
CEQA Compliance Statement
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3), the subject presentation to the City Council is exempt from CEQA requirements.
BACKGROUND
The United States Census is a Constitutional mandate and is one of the most important processes conducted every 10 years. Planning for the 2020 Census is underway and Sandra Marquez has been designated as the City’s point person to coordinate with Census officials to achieve an accurate and complete count of the residents of San Pablo. Of great importance to the City and the community as a whole, the Census data is used to allocate federal funds to support programs such as transportation improvements and affordable housing and also determines the levels of political representation for the community.
Historically, people of color, immigrants, low-income communities, children, seniors and many others have been undercounted in the census. An undercount can result in a decrease in federal resources for the community and a loss of Congressional representation. California faces several challenges to a complete and accurate count. Some challenges with the 2020 Census include underfunding of the U.S. Census Bureau and the new online census questionnaire.
Contra Costa County’s goal is to ensure that every person in the County is counted. To minimize the undercount in our region, Contra Costa County has funded several organizations, coalitions, and collaborations that are committed to ensuring a complete count of County residents with an emphasis on Hard to Count (HTC) populations.
Following the approval of Resolution 2019-146 on September 16, 2019, in which the City Council of the City of San Pablo approved an application for Contra Costa County Census 2020 Outreach and Assistance Grants, City staff submitted a grant application on September 30, 2019 for the amount of $22,200. On October 21, the Complete County Steering Committee made a final recommendation to award the City of San Palo the amount of $6,000 for community outreach. Staff will return to City Council on November 18, 2019 to accept and appropriate the $6,000 grant funds.
The funds received by this grant will be utilized for outreach efforts through multiple channels and community partner collaboration to share census information via trusted channels. The City believes frequent and positive exposure to the Census will improve response rates and support community understanding of Census importance and direct assistance resources. Specific outreach strategies include in-person pop-ups and presentations with trained staff and Census materials at community events and popular venues; mailers and newsletters on Census specific information and resources; available handouts and materials at public counters; public signs; and available visual and written materials in the City’s and the San Pablo Economic Development Corporation (EDC) websites. City outreach materials and efforts will include Spanish. In addition, some materials will be in the traditional Chinese written language, and Mandarin, Cantonese and Lao may also be accommodated with Census outreach activities.
In addition, City outreach will prioritize meeting residents where they are at and facilitating engagement via convenient times/locations, with food, child entertainment, and translation services available. Key community destinations include the City's Community Center, Senior Center, Library, schools, and Las Montañas Hispanic Foods Supermarket. By coordinating with schools, we hope to facilitate student engagement with their parents, since many youths tend to have the highest English proficiency in their families. Additionally, staff will conduct Census outreach at popular upcoming holiday activities (Tree Lighting Ceremony, Valentine's Day Dance, Spring Eggstravaganza, Cinco de Mayo). The City will leverage the multilingual staff (with Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Lao fluency) and community trust in the Community Services, Community & Economic Development, and Public Works Departments to implement the outreach efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City was awarded $6,000 in funding to help promote the upcoming Census count, which will increase revenues in the FY 2020/21 General Fund budget year. To the extent that the outreach efforts are successful there would also be long-term fiscal benefits to the City in that the Census count determines the local allocation of various State and Federal funds. Staff will return to Council to accept and appropriate any grant funds.