City forms Complete Count Committee ahead of 2020 Census

When the counting starts, San Marcos will be ready.

In their meeting Tuesday night, city council approved the formation of a Census 2020 Complete Count Committee to help determine outreach when U.S. Census workers come to San Marcos. 

“You’ll recall that we had the work session and some folks from the Census Bureau came and spoke with us and talked about how important it is that we have the complete count for future grants, et cetera,” Mayor Jane Hughson said. “So we need to have this complete count committee established soon.”

The city will be looking for representatives from the city council, the university, the school district and educational community, the business community, nonprofit organizations, the faith-based community, the media and the healthcare industry, along with some at-large members. The Complete Count Committee members should all be residents of San Marcos. 

Council decided to have no more than two representatives per category to avoid making the committee unwieldy.

“I’m always concerned when a board has an even number,” council member Ed Mihalkanin said. “I don’t know what this would create in terms of this membership.”

To address that concern, council decided to have three at-large members. Additionally, council said that they will endeavor to find at least three members who are bilingual.

Hughson noted that this committee will not be carrying out any canvassing activities.

“This is for the group that’s going to determine some of the outreach,” she said.

City Clerk Jamie Lee Case will formulate applications for the Complete Count Committee and make them available soon.