Staff reports

Beginning April 6, 2009, employees of the US Census will begin canvassing Buncombe County neighborhoods to get address information. They will be cross-checking address information into hand-held computers and will be identified by a name badge and windshield tag. They will not be knocking on doors but will be in neighborhoods.

Representatives of various community organizations, schools, local governments, and religious organizations attended to hear from census officials the importance of a complete count in April of 2010. A complete count will impact the amount of federal money the County receives and could impact the number of congressional seats from our area.

Officials were urged to begin spreading the word about the canvassing and the importance of encouraging everyone to be ready and willing to fill out a 10-question, 10-minute census in 2010. The impact of these 10 minutes will impact our county for the next 10 years. The census will be completely confidential and is required by the US Constitution.

The first census was completed in 1790 and has been carried out every 10 years since. The official count day will be April 1, 2010. For more information about the census call Andrea Robel, Partnership Specialist with the US Census Bureau at (828) 423-4633, or email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it