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City lays out 2020 Census plan: targeted multilingual outreach, community grants and a digital‑first challenge
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Summary
City officials and community partners told supervisors that San Francisco needs tailored multilingual outreach, community grants, door‑to‑door canvassing and training to avoid a large undercount in the 2020 Census; the committee asked for follow‑ups and the item was continued to the call of the chair.
Supervisor Sandra Lee Feuer convened an informational hearing on San Francisco’s preparations for the 2020 Census, calling the count “the foundation of our democracy” and urging special attention to hard‑to‑count populations including children, limited‑English households, seniors, renters, people in nontraditional housing, and unhoused residents.
Naomi Kelly, City Administrator, said she charged the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs to plan and coordinate citywide outreach. Adrienne Pahn (OCEIA) described a strategy built on multilingual, multicultural outreach, community ambassadors, mini complete‑count committees, and a community grants program. Pahn said the city budget includes $2,000,000 over two years from the mayor’s office and that the state contributed roughly $546,000; OCEIA has budgeted about $850,000 annually for community grants focused on education and outreach.
Robert Clinton, civic engagement project manager, highlighted the Census Bureau’s low‑response score and the risks of a digital‑first enumeration: the bureau expects about 80% of households to respond online, but printed materials will be available only in English and Spanish and online forms will not cover all non‑English languages used in the city. Clinton and Deputy Director Richard Whipple urged partnerships with community‑based organizations, door‑to‑door efforts in neighborhoods such as Bayview, Chinatown, Tenderloin, the Mission and Visitacion Valley, and training so organizations can use census data after the count. Community representatives from Chinese for Affirmative Action and Poder described privacy concerns, language access problems, and how door‑to‑door organizing built trust in 2010.
Supervisors pressed officials on how the local LUCA (Local Update of Census Addresses) work and community grants will reach locked housing and master‑lease situations; OCEIA described phased planning, testing, and the city’s intent to hire community ambassadors and open technology hubs where needed. Given unresolved methodological and legal issues (including ongoing litigation around the citizenship question and concerns about federal data sharing), the committee continued the item to the call of the chair and asked for follow‑up reports and clarifications.
