Rep. Carbajal and Secretary of State Alex Padilla answer Census questions in Santa Maria town hall
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Elected officials ramped up their final push to the 2020 Census in a town hall meeting in Santa Maria Monday night.
Congressman Salud Carbajal and Secretary of State Alex Padilla answered questions from community members.
Next month, residents across the country will be asked their information for the census. The census happens every ten years.
"I wanted to know whether all people living here are going to be counted in the census," said Mirko Lopez, a Santa Maria resident. "Whether they be citizens, residents, aliens, undocumented, is any of that going to matter."
"I think I just want to learn more about how to reach the hard to count populations," said Abraham Melendrez, a policy advocate for CAUSE.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla reassured voters that every person should be counted.
It's not just citizens, It's not just adults. It's not just voters. We need everybody counted in the census," he said.
He also said that "the Census Bureau cannot share personal information that we submit through the census with any other department or any other agency for any other purpose."
The census count impacts how much federal money each city will receive over the next decade.
These funds go towards schools, roads, hospitals and more.
Santa Maria Spokesman Mark van de Kamp said that an accurate count is important to get those vital funds.
He estimates the city has grown from over 99,000 people ten years ago to around 108,000 now.
"For each person who's undercounted, the community over the next decade would stand to lose about $20,000 in federal funding," said Mark van de Kamp, Spokesman for Santa Maria.
That means if 1,000 people are not counted, the city could miss out on $20 million.
Secretary Padilla said children were among those highest undercounted populations in California.
Along with children, "the elderly, communities of color, lower income communities, immigrants and immigrant families" are also among the hard-to-count said Padilla.
In this district, Santa Maria has a very high hard-to-count number of residents. Van de Kamp says roughly two out of three residents fall in that category.
The census is also still looking for workers. They will be paid over $20 an hour. U.S. citizens who are at least 18-years-old are eligible.
