Census Bureau gearing up to count Vernon

Daniel Walker

Vernon Record

The Census Bureau is gearing up for the 2020 census. The U.S. constitution mandates the government to collect data about every resident in the United States every 10 years.

The Census Bureau’s Patricia Humphrey Daughter met with the Vernon City Commission on Tuesday night, saying she planned on forming a Complete Count Committee to make sure Vernon and Wilbarger County were accurately counted.

She said Vernon was under counted in the 2010 census. Thus, this committee was being formed to make sure that doesn’t happen again. She said a meeting was scheduled Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Wilbarger County Courthouse to meet with community leaders  to discuss how to get an accurate count.

Vernon Mayor Doug Jeffrey voiced his support: “It is vitally important. We need you to be counted.”

The data collected helps distribute federal funding, grants, ensures fair representation in the house of representatives, and it is used in local governments and businesses for planning.

Daughter said that Census forms will be arriving in homes as soon as March 12. She also said people that applied to work for the Census Bureau should start getting called.

Jeffrey said college students also needed to be counted. Daughter said that was an important point. She said that this time students staying at Vernon College will be counted here, as opposed to at their home towns.