LYNN — City Clerk Janet Rowe calls the 90,329 population count for Lynn in 2010 a significant underestimate, highlighting why Thursday morning’s City Hall public discussion on the 2020 census is so important.
“It’s very important because we aren’t counted,” Rowe said.
The census “complete committee” meeting will be in the City Council Chamber, top floor of City Hall, at 9 a.m. Rowe said she has invited 78 organizations, individuals and groups to the meeting, including Lynn area state legislators, the Highlands Coalition, Neighbor to Neighbor, School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, and the North Shore Latino Business Association.
“We are hoping to exchange ideas, define roles and schedule events for the upcoming year. Our slogan is “Lynn is all in, be counted,” said Rowe.
Mandated by the United States Constitution and conducted every 10 years, the census counts every person in the United States. The current population count for the nation is 329 million people.
The 2020 census will be the first to allow census questionnaires to be conducted by telephone or online. Rowe acknowledged that stakes are high for a thorough count, especially in Lynn. She estimates the city’s population is between 110,000 and 115,000 based in part on school enrollment trends and excise tax billing.
“We want to get the word out about why the census counts,” Rowe said.
During a September discussion on the census held at Breed Middle School, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin told attendees that an accurate census count plays a crucial role in how $900 billion in annual federal funding is allocated across the country for roads, public transportation, education and public health.
Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (MIRA) said during the census meeting that approximately 1.5 million immigrants and refugees live in Massachusetts and it’s important to reach every one of them so there’s a proper count in the census.
For each person not counted, communities could miss out on $2,400 of federal funding, which means that low-income urban communities like Lynn, with a high immigrant population, could be at high risk for underfunding, Millona said.
During the September meeting, a man who identified himself as an undocumented immigrant, asked if the census data was going to be passed onto the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Galvin said federal laws protect census confidentiality. It’s illegal for the census bureau to disclose responses in a way that would identify an individual, or for data collected by the census to be used for any non-statistical purpose, such as immigration regulation or other law enforcement, according to a document prepared by the Brennan Center for Justice.
“We have to overcome the fear,” said Galvin. “It’s against federal law to share the information with anyone. It is simply for the purpose of the count.”
Rowe said Friday, Dec. 20 is the deadline for nonprofit organizations to apply for grant money to help pay for census outreach programs by visiting http://www.sec.state.ma.us/census2020/grant-program.html
Item reporter Gayla Cawley contributed to this report.
