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City officials say special census contains no citizenship question and individual responses are confidential
Summary
Chief of Staff Shannon Cameron and Deputy Mayor Casey Cuevas told listeners the 2026 special census does not include a citizenship question and that individual responses remain confidential to the Census Bureau.
Shannon Cameron addressed privacy concerns directly on the Call Me John program: “on the special census, there is no citizenship question,” she said, adding that the Census Bureau keeps individual data confidential. Cameron and Deputy Mayor Casey Cuevas reassured listeners the information provided will not be shared with other government agencies.
Mayor John Lash echoed the assurance that the special census is safe: “We wanna make sure that we get an accurate count...this is how we do all of our strategic planning,” he said while stressing confidentiality. Panelists repeatedly urged residents not to let fear of federal employees deter them from responding and said the preferred route is to self-respond online using the unique code from the mailer.
The panel also noted enumerators the Census Bureau hires are local community members; Shannon said that is intended to increase residents’ comfort with follow-up phone calls or door visits after the city's online-response period ends.
