Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager was every bit a coach at the McHenry County Administration Building where he urged his “team” to be the best county in the nation for the percentage of residents filling out the 2020 U.S. Census. Sager spoke to a group of local government leaders, business leaders, not-for-profit agencies and residents. Sager and McHenry County Board member Michael Vijuk are co-chairs for the McHenry County Complete Count Committee. Vijuk took over the microphone once Sager was done and urged his “team” to “Count on Me,” and repeated the words several times, getting an increasingly louder response. This is the rally that will drive efforts to make sure every resident is counted when the Census begins next April.
Sager and Vijuk and their committee are faced with a daunting task because there are several groups of undercounted in McHenry County including seniors, Latinos, young people, homeless, and children 4 years old and younger.
One of the ways to fill out the census (a ten-minute exercise) is to go online. Other ways to complete the questionnaire are by phone, paper questionnaire, or direct contact with a census taker. Sager said that some seniors may not be interested in participating if they’re asked to fill out the questionnaire electronically.
“We must target methods to count them,” Sager said.
Spreading the word on social networks about the importance of the census is a good tactic but for some seniors, marketing of the census on social networks may not reach them.
