Title
Authorize the Board of Supervisors and/or their designated representatives to discuss the rent free use of vacant County office space to the U.S. Census Bureau to site an Area Census Office (ACO) in Monterey County and assist in obtaining a complete count during the 2020 Census.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors authorize the Board of Supervisors and/or their designated representatives to discuss the rent free use of vacant County office space to the U.S. Census Bureau to site an Area Census Office (ACO) in Monterey County and assist in obtaining a complete count during the 2020 Census.
SUMMARY
The U.S. Constitution mandates that the federal government conduct a decennial census. Census data is used to determine federal funding levels to states for a variety of critical programs including health care, social services, transportation, public safety, and more. Based on 2010 Census data, California receives over $70 billion from the federal government for more than 70 programs. Census data is also used to determine the number of seats each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Hard-to-count (HTC) communities are well-documented by the U.S. Census Bureau, with an estimated 35% of those living in HTC neighborhoods comprised of populations historically missed in the Census count at disproportionately high rates (e.g.: people of color, young children, immigrants, and renters). According to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, Monterey County has the highest percentage of noncitizens of any California county, 21.7%.
Given the funding, services, and representation at risk as a result of a Census undercount, and the HTC communities in the County, the County has requested that an Area Census Office (ACO) be located in Monterey County.
DISCUSSION
In October 2018, the County wrote a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau, urging that an Area Census Office (ACO) be located in Monterey County. The letter described the challenges of obtaining a complete including the documented hard-to-count (HTC) communities, large immigrant population, and large geographic size of Monterey County - with the nearest ACO located in San Jose, CA.
In November 2018, the Census Bureau responded to the County by explaining how the location of ACOs were chosen, without any discussion of the County’s request to site an ACO in Monterey County.
In December 2018, the Board held a Legislative Workshop where several Census related issues were discussed including the siting of an ACO in Monterey County. Representative Jimmy Panetta was in attendance at that meeting and has actively been engaged with other Congressional members, the General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Commerce (DOC)/Census Bureau on siting an ACO in Monterey County.
At the February 11, 2019 meeting of the Board’s Legislative Committee, the Committee discussed the possibility of offering rent free use of vacant County office space to the Census Bureau to incentivize placement of an ACO in Monterey County.
During the first week of March 2019, several members of the Board of Supervisors and the Assistant County Administrative Officer (ACAO) for the Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs (IGLA) Division, will be in Washington D.C. for the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference. During that time they plan to meet with Representative Panetta, Senator Feinstein’s Office, and Senator Harris’ Office. The County delegation would also like to meet with the General Services Administration (GSA), Department of Commerce and Census Bureau to further discuss this issue. The action requested by this report will authorize the designated County representatives to discuss this issue. If these discussions progress staff will return to the Board with a report and request more specific direction and authority.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
The CAO-Intergovernmental & Legislative Affairs Division prepared this report.
FINANCING
Approval of the recommendation included in this report will not result in additional General Fund contributions.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Support for these ballot measures is in alignment with all of the Board’s Strategic Initiatives.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
R Economic Development
R Administration
R Health & Human Services
R Infrastructure
R Public Safety
Prepared by: Annette D’Adamo, MAIII
Approved by: Nicholas E. Chiulos, Assistant CAO
___________________________________________ ____________________
Nicholas E. Chiulos, Assistant County Administrative Officer Date
February 19, 2019