Northwest Georgia Regional Commission hears from regional census specialist
Mandy Maloney, a partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Atlanta Regional Census Center, listed off Thursday some of the various things the census being conducted this year will impact: government representation, district determinations, state and federal funding, grant considerations, money for schools and roads.
“There are a billion ways those numbers are used. But you guys know how important it is,” Maloney said while speaking to the monthly meeting of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission in Calhoun.
She emphasized the importance of not only participating in the census, a resident count that only happens every 10 years, but of encouraging everyone else to make sure they get counted as well, regardless of status. She noted that in Floyd County, where she lives, about 74 percent of residents filled out and mailed the census form last time around. But that meant about 26 percent of the residents there had to be visited by workers, she said, and it’s hard to know if you accurately counted everyone.
What isn’t hard to know is the importance of participating in the census.
“Because they equal money and power. That’s really what the census is about,” Maloney said. “Just know that every single person equals dollars left of the table when they’re not counted.”
