US Census

[schoonerdog]

Originally Posted by Anzo

Actually I'm working for the census this year as a crew leader. They (we) have both individual enumerators that are instructed to go where people live or might live, and other enumerators that go strictly to both transient locations and group quarters locations to hunt you down. Of course, you could always hide behind the dumpster till they're gone.

We never hide, we just think it's funny how they always miss us... especially when we (my husband) were on the payroll!

(this is Cindy, Schoonerdog's wife hijacking again)

[Gracias]

Census takers showed up at my marina yesterday. I got counted, no problem.

[Red Charlotte]

Census taker came to our marina this week and counted the liveaboards. They said this is the first time they have a heavy emphasis on counting "transient" living styles. I asked them if they were going to rent a boat to go out to the anchorages. He didn't know about that. At least we got counted though!

[flysci]

The Marina I'm staying at now [Dinner Key, Coconut Grove] has the forms available in the office.

I figure I have 2 choices for my address. My cruiser's mailing service address (St. Brendan's Isle, permanent for as long as I'm cruising) or the property I own and am leasing out for income. Since the tax issue is more likely to affect the latter, I think I'll go with that.

Still, I dare them to find me in person! LOL

Margo

[zeehag]

i havent worried about census since 1990 when i first started living on board---now the questions are just tooo personal and privacy invading for me to even bother to answer--isnt their business to ask most of the invading questions they ask--i donot answer!!!!

[GeoPowers]

We got visited today by two very nice Census takers- they were polling boats today, and tomorrow were working on RV's. I didn't find the questions too personal, and I'm glad the kids could experience it.

[Polunu880]

My understanding of it if is, you live on your boat it's not consider a home and you are classified as homeless

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Actually, I've tried to get the Census to include me, for the past thirty years. I even tried to get hired by them for the 1990 Census. They weren't interested in having someone visit the moored boats in San Diego Bay for input. And I haven't received a form this year either, even though I am tied to a dock and a registered liveaboard.

We had some census guys come by and count us last week. They said it was the first year that they were counting boaters.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by zeehag

...now the questions are just tooo personal and privacy invading for me to even bother to answer--isnt their business to ask most of the invading questions they ask--i donot answer!!!!

Actually, this year, the questions were not nearly as bad as the past few times. Maybe enough people complained.

[Jan B]

Our "permanent address" is St. Brendans, but we are currently in the Bahamas. We received a form at St. Brendans, but it can't be forwarded. Apparently you can pick up "Be Counted" forms at "community locations". There is a phone number you can call also. Why they don't have a form online to download, I don't know. Not being near a "community location" and not wanting to spend money on a phone call, I am wondering how we get our forms.

[scotte]

They have been going around to marinas in the San Francisco Bay Area as well...

[Anzo]

For some reason, the forms that were mailed out were less invasive and personal than the ones the door to door enumerators are filling out.

BTW, I proudly quit my census crew-leader job today after the training. 30 hrs of straight-out-of-the-book verbatum training. Good Lord- 1/2 the training dealt with how to keep enumerators from screwing the govt. I heard the word "termination" so damn many times I had to terminate myself. If the Census Bureau is an example of a gov't agency, we're in way more trouble than I thought. The sheer waste of time and material in the operation is staggering. The one ray of light, though, is that if the Bureau IS an example of the Fed Govt, we could cut the whole damn thing in half with no noticeable drop in efficiency. And debt solved.

[senormechanico]

I got a form in the mail. I answered the first question 2 people at this address.
The rest of them got crossed out with an explanation of "Not Constitutionally Required".
About a week later, I got a second form, saying they hadn't received my form.
I shredded it. Nothing since.
fookem.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I got a form in the mail. I answered the first question 2 people at this address.
The rest of them got crossed out with an explanation of "Not Constitutionally Required"...

Congress determines (or delegates) what is constitutionaly required, not you.

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years.

“The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they* shall by Law direct”.

Article I, Section 2
➥ The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net

* They, NOT Steve B.

[hellosailor]

Jan, I would suggest that since you are not residing in the US, you don't pick up a form because you don't count as a "resident" while you're not residing in-country.

The Census distributes primarily by US Mail since that ensures that the form is going to a resident at each mailing address, which is a good form of validation. Community locations similarly at least ensure that you physically ARE someplace at some limited time. But a downloadable internet form? That's harder to verify, you could be a Chinese agent trying to game the system from Shanghai.

The system has some flaws in it, but then again, if you have to go out of town fast the day before elections...you miss out on voting, too. Unfair, but that one vote, on census count, shouldn't really affect the outcome most of the time.