Census to gauge Edwards' progress, population

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The United States Constitution mandates a census be taken every ten years; this is done by providing every U.S. resident with a questionnaire.

A team of nine officials will be on base from April 20 and May 1. The team will visit base housing, the dormitories, and lodging to verify the address and map coordinates of each of these facilities. This will be done to ensure base residents receive the United States Census Bureau's questionnaire and take part in the census.

"The information gathered from this census will determine funding for local, state, and tribal governments over the next ten years," said Melody Couch, 95th Civil Engineering Directorate housing management chief. "This also determines the amount of representation each state will have in Congress. The information is also used as a tool for making decisions about things including public health, neighborhood improvements, education and senior services."


The individual in charge of the census team is Syble Thomas. She will be supplied with contact names and numbers for representatives in each of the areas of the base being checked. Team members will not individually solicit people or families, but each member of the team will have a valid United States Census identification card with them at all times, in case they are approached and asked to present it.

"This visit is preliminary for the 2010 census," said Syble Thomas. "We will be updating our address list in order to facilitate accuracy and efficiency for the 2010 mailing. We expect that Edwards will be a fun and challenging adventure since you have totally rebuilt your housing from the ground up since the last census."

To ensure that the count is accurate, the census questionnaire will also be sent to the High Desert Inn and the base's Temporary Lodging Facilities.

"High Desert Inn facilities at Edwards will be considered 'other living quarters' and counted the same way as occupants in college dormitories, nursing homes, and hospitals," said Venton Lamont, 95th Force Support Squadron lodging manager. "Ballots will be sent out to all TLFs and lodging occupants to ensure an accurate count."

Because only one section of housing remains from the last census in 2000, Edwards will offer a unique challenge to the Census Bureau's team this year.

"The leadership at Edwards has always maintained that our military members deserve the best we can give them and over the last ten years has been aggressively improving the housing and lodging on our base," said Ms. Couch. "There is only one neighborhood in family housing that is the same as it was ten years ago, and it was new in 2000. In all other neighborhoods we have torn down the old and built modern, new homes for our servicemembers. Similar progress has been made with our unaccompanied housing."

For more information about the census, visit http://2010.census.gov/2010census/promotional_materials/009579.html