Mayor Domenic J. Sarno will form the Springfield Complete Count Committee for the 2020 Census that will be co-chaired by Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola-Lopez and Chief of Staff Tom Ashe.
Mayor Sarno states, “Gladys has done a tremendous job not only in modernizing the Elections Office but just as important being very proactive in outreach efforts. With Tom comes someone who knows how to drive an agenda to get results.”
The Committee will be charged to:
- Increase the self-response rate for households responding online, by phone, or mailing back their questionnaire through a focused, structured, neighbor-to-neighbor program.
- Utilize the local knowledge, expertise, and influence of each Complete Count Committee member to design and implement a census awareness campaign targeted to the community.
- Bring together a cross section of community members whose focus is 2020 Census awareness.
We will work with area health, education (colleges), media, business, religious, philanthropic organizations and community groups.
Some avenues we will pursue are with local community agencies such as Springfield Partners for Community Action, New North Citizens Council, New England Farm Workers Council, our Senior Centers with Commissioner of Health & Human Services Helen Caulton-Harris and Elder Affairs Director Sandy Federico, our Vietnamese community and Springfield Housing Authority Executive Director Denise Jordan to name a few.
Mayor Sarno added, “You see, numbers count - ‘we must show up to move up!’ We must make sure our City voices are heard and represented properly in order for all our funding resources to be at maximum capacity. This is about continuing to reinvest in our Springfield community.”
The Board of Elections has been working with State and Federal partners for the past year laying the mapping groundwork for the 2020 Census. Commissioner Oyola stated that “Springfield remains among one of the hardest to count cities in Massachusetts due to the population of recent immigrants, renters, college students, and other hard-to-count groups. Therefore, as we move into this next phase of the Census, I look forward to concentrating our efforts on Springfield and ensuring that partnerships are formed citywide that will ensure a complete and accurate count.”
Chief of Staff Tom Ashe said, “Like Mayor Sarno, I am mindful of how important the census is to the City of Springfield and I am honored that he has appointed me and Commissioner Oyola to ensure that we put forth our best effort to count each and every resident.”