Door-to-door census takers have tough job ahead

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 11:03 a.m.

The effort to count Nevada's population has so far gone well, but the toughest part is only beginning, state and federal officials told a state legislative committee Wednesday.

Secretary of State Dean Heller, chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Census 2000, and David Byerman, the U.S. Census Bureau's chief government liaison for Nevada, spoke to the Nevada Legislative Commission's Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting.

The census results will be important for the committee, since those results will guide the redrawing and creation of state and federal legislative districts. People who aren't counted also cost state and local governments millions, government officials say.

"Up to this point, I think we have succeeded," Heller told the committee. He said the state had the second-best improvement in the nation for return of mail-in questionnaires to the bureau.

"This is a real success story for the region," Byerman agreed. Nevada's mail-in response rate improved from 61 percent to 64 percent, he said.

The improved mail-in rate meant that the process is more accurate, quicker and cheaper than before, Byerman said.

But with door-to-door enumerators fanning out through the state and country to catch the 36 percent of the population who didn't mail back their forms, the census still has an important job to do, Byerman added.

"This process is not nearly complete," he said. "We still have the hardest part before us."

Byerman said the entire process should be completed in Nevada in six to eight weeks. People who haven't returned their census forms will get three visits to their door. After that, they will get three phone calls.

Byerman said hiring more workers was a critical need, especially in Las Vegas.

Byerman also said the local census offices -- one each in North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Henderson -- want to hear from anyone who for whatever reason never received a census form.

To inquire about a job or a census form, people can call the bureau's local hotline at (888) 325-7733.