Canvassing taking place for '10 census

SANDPOINT — Work on the 2010 census is under way in Bonner County.

Address canvassing, the first step in the decennial census, has already been started and is ahead of schedule, according to U.S. Census Bureau officials in Idaho. The canvassing identifies residential addresses to help ensure residents receive the 2010 census questionnaire.

This time around, census workers will be equipped with Global Positioning System-enabled handheld computers, which Census Bureau officials will be used to produce the most comprehensive U.S. address list in existence.

“When we did this 10 years ago, we didn’t have the computers. We used actual paper maps,” said Dave Mulvihill, the bureau’s Early Local Census Office manager in Boise.

The use of GPS, which pinpoints geographic locations via satellite technology, has raised some eyebrows in the community, said Bonner County Sheriff’s Lt. Marcus Robbins.

Robbins said the sheriff’s office has received about a half-dozen calls from citizens questioning the use of GPS during the census.

“It’s not really heavy,” Robbins said of the volume of census-related inquiries.

Census officials say the use of GPS is expected to reduce the amount of time spent by census workers in locating addresses and increase productivity. Federal law protects personal information gathered during the census.

Mulvihill said the census’ “big push” occurs next year.

“Next year is when we have the majority of the actual census work, which is the mail-out/mail-back questionnaires,” he said.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a census every 10 years and participation in the head count is required by law. Census figures are used distribute congressional seats to states and billions in federal funds to state and local governments.

Mulvihill acknowledges some in Bonner County view the census as an unwanted government intrusion from which they derive no benefit. However, he points out that funding allocations determined by the census pay for road construction and public safety projects.

“There’s a lot of ramifications over and above just counting and knowing that there’s somebody living there,” he said.