Posted on 05/08/2009 8:06:03 PM PDT by Libloather
Census workers going door to door
By TOM MOOR, Tribune Staff Writer
Story Updated: May 8, 2009 at 6:43 PM EDT
Sharon Sheely said she received quite the scare earlier this week.
When Sheely answered a knock on her door and asked who was there, an unknown man replied only by saying, “Census.”
Believing the man appeared “questionable,” Sheely told him to leave and closed the door.
Aside from the bad manners Sheely said the man had, what she experienced is happening everywhere.
Every residence in this region will receive a visit from the U.S. Census Bureau in the next two months as census workers prepare to verify more than 145 million addresses nationwide.
While some people may already know this, it certainly came as a surprise for Sheely.
“I wasn’t aware anything like this was going on,” said Sheely, of Lakeville.
Sheely contacted The Tribune because she’s worried many people don’t know that census workers are already canvassing neighborhoods.
The effort is part of a nationwide operation to verify, update and inquire about additional living quarters on the premises of residences nationwide — the first step in assuring every housing unit receives a questionnaire in March 2010.
“In our region, they have been instructed to knock on every door,” said Muriel Jackson, spokesman for the Chicago Regional Census Center. “There may have been some instances they didn’t, but as far as I know it’s a procedure.”
South Bend has a census office, but all media inquiries were directed to the Chicago office.
Sheely was concerned because her home had recently been burglarized and she didn’t feel she could trust a stranger at her door. Sheely also mentioned the potential dangers of elderly people being targeted by people posing as census workers.
Workers can be identified by the official Census Bureau badge they carry, Jackson said. The employees will ask only to verify a housing unit’s address and whether there are additional living quarters on the property. Workers will never ask for any bank or Social Security information.
For more information about the 2010 Census, call the Census Bureau’s Partnership and Data Services Division at (312) 454-2770.
The Census Bureau is currently recruiting managers for its new offices to open this fall in each congressional district. For more information, go to www.census.gov.
I wonder if he did take note of my “Don’t blame me, I voted for Sarah” bumper sticker and the “Patriotic American” banner just under the American Flag.
I’ve voted Republican in every election I’ve voted in since my first one in 1988, and I voted for McCain last year.
I wasn’t aware correcting people’s strange and incorrect ideas about various things, including the Census, was “Socialist.”
This is NOT a new program. Address listing and mapping has been a part of every census. It used to be done with guesstimation and paper maps. The only difference this time is the tool (GPS) (And, btw, the GPS system has been inthe works for something like 6 years, so it was entirely conceived in the Bush administration.)
And these workers are indeed official census workers. Many of them will be the same people doing interviewing at houses where a form isn't sent back.
If the census is coming I'll have to put out the welcome bell.
It is completely impossible for Census workers to access anyone’s driver’s license information or tax returns.
The one thing that really be accessed (and this can be accessed by the general public) are Real Property records such as at this website:
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/
Sure, but do you have the Palin 2012 sticker on all vehicles? I've lost count on the one finger salutes from Husseinlubbers...
It is always suspicious when some members of FR simply do not go after Obama on the issues that I mentioned above.
Is that some sort of WMD attached to the storm door? It's that or some sort of MP3 player device...
The handheld computer is a GPS device. They are supposed to mark every address into their GPS database and be within 40 ft of the front door. I had one Census worker here this week. She was either clueless or misinformed. Your Federal Government at work.
Commie!
ROTFLMAO !
That is a happy dream !
A board that’s nothing but “I hate OBAMA don’t you too!?!?!?!” posts is pretty dull.
I don’t think he’s particularly qualified to be President, and wish he wasn’t.
I don’t think he’s the Anti-Christ, and I think the country will somehow survive and be here in 2012 or 2016 regardless of what happens.
I don’t think there’s much value in going into a frenzied panic over absolutely everything remotely associated with the Administration, particularly in the cases where people don’t have their facts straight. It just makes conservatives look nutty.
Exactly - a retired friend of mine is working here in SC doing this and neither he nor his wife is a part of ACORN. They’re good conservatives.
I am working for the census. They were setting up employment interviews back in december-jan. I went to my interview in early feb, and went through my training on April 20th. Address canvassers have been working for awhile.
And no, it’s not acorn. They are doing this so that we know which addresses from 2000 are still valid and that all addresses are accounted for.
Unless you have a number on your house, it doesn’t matter, they have to.
In the earlier phases of the Census there are quite a few spectacularly unqualified people. It doesn’t pay all that much and they need a ton of workers. I used to work on and off for the Census to make some extra money in the last decade or so. I spent a lot of time correcting the mistaken work of others.
It’s just the nature of the operation. During this phase they’ll weed out most of the truly incompetent and it will be winnowed down somewhat for next year. On the other hand, there are quite a few sharp people that are retirees, or just looking to make some extra money part time in a job with really flexible hours, so you’ll see all types.
Um, nope, we have to verify addresses so in 2010 we have addresses accounted for. Take my opic though, i love photo shoots:)
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