Census workers scramble to deliver forms

Feeling left out by the U.S. Census Bureau?

You are not alone.

According to officials, some Douglas County neighborhoods have been overlooked by census workers who were to deliver forms to residents with post office boxes instead of fixed street addresses.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook," said Cheryl Bricker, executive director of the Partnership of Community Resources.

"People know April 1 is magic count day and they don't have the form. They're not coming in for assistance because they never got a form."

Bricker said Wednesday census workers were to distribute official forms to the homes of people with post office boxes.

Residents with street addresses should have received their forms in the mail well before the end of March.

Bricker said she didn't know how many residences may have been missed.

"Supposedly, census workers have canvassed all of Douglas County and delivered forms to homes, leaving them on doorknobs, fences, within gated communities. We're getting calls from people saying, 'No. We didn't get it.'"

Bricker is a member of the Carson-Douglas Complete Count Committee along with Douglas County Manager T. Michael Brown and Carson City Planning Director Lee Plemel.

She said Douglas County has been assigned a census worker who staffs an official assistance center at the Mountain View Professional Center, 1528 Highway 395, Suite 220, Gardnerville, until April 19.

"There are a few forms at the assistance center and we have a few here at the partnership," Bricker said.

She is working on securing more forms and setting up a delivery system.

Bricker said she had reports of people in Genoa, Wellington, Topaz and Ruhenstroth who did not receive forms, and there may be more.

"The biggest thing I want to tell people is don't stress," Bricker said. "We'll find a way to make it work."

She said census workers will be out in the county later this month for the "nonresponse followup."

As a result of the delivery mix-up, people who responded to the census may find official workers knocking on their doors.

"They are to hit every household that didn't respond through Aug. 1," Bricker said. "There is plenty of time to be counted."

Bricker said she'd been on the phone with census officials in Reno trying to untangle the snafu in delivery.

"The important thing is for people to get counted. Possibly, you may be visited by a census worker," she said.

ASSISTANCE CENTER

Census assistance center is located at the Mountain View Professional Center, 1528 Highway 395, Suite 220, Gardnerville. Hours are Monday, Thursday and Friday, 1-4 p.m., Tuesday-Wednesday, 9 a.m.-noon. The center is open until April 19. Information, 782-8611, Partnership of Community Resources.