Efforts are still ongoing to seek volunteers, including local pastors, to serve on a Complete Count Committee to ensure that El Dorado residents participate in the 2020 Census.
Mayor Frank Hash announced last month that the city is creating the committee at the behest of the U.S. Census Bureau.
The bureau is asking local communities across the nation to assemble Complete Count Committees to help ensure as accurate a Census count as possible.
A minimum of seven members is recommended, but Hash reiterated Thursday that he prefers a committee of at least twice that size.
“We’re still looking for folks to compose the Complete Count Committee. You can never have too many,” he said.
Hash called on members of the El Dorado City Council for recommendations and previously set a deadline of Aug. 9 to submit names.
Council Member Willie McGhee said he had spoken to several people who have expressed interest in serving on the committee and City Clerk Heather McVay said she had spoken to some of the people listed by McGhee.
As he has done previously, the mayor again stressed the importance of an accurate Census count for the city. He echoed what many in the community have voiced publicly within the past eight years.
“This city lost a lot of money last time because I don’t think we got an accurate count,” Hash said.
“For everyone who’s not counted, the city loses money — money that goes back to the citizens for services,” he continued, referring to general revenue funds that are “turned back” from the state to cities and counties to provide essential services, including law enforcement and fire protection, street and highway maintenance, solid waste services, etc.
The funds are generated through sales tax and special revenues and the “turn-back” amounts are often based on population.
In 2010, the city’s population was listed at 18,884.
A followup count in 2012 placed the number at 18,491.
The most recent population estimate is 18,030, adding El Dorado to the list of the top 10 Arkansas cities to lose the most population between 2010 and 2017.
City officials have said that the purpose of the Complete Count Committee is to provide leadership and community support and organize community outreach efforts to garner an accurate population count.
The U.S. Census Bureau suggests seven committee members representing a cross-section of the community, including state, local or tribal agencies; schools/colleges; faith-based institutions; community organizations; nonprofit organizations; local businesses; local media; and special housing groups.
Hash said he hopes local pastors will participate in the effort and spread the word among their congregants.
He and McGhee said citizens should also understand that the committee will reach out to them to encourage them to participate in the census and will not be asking for personal information.
“I know some folks are skeptical of government. I am on occasion,” Hash said.
Added McGhee, “We just want to count bodies.”
For more information, call the mayor’s office at 870-862-7911 or City Clerk Heather McVay at 870-881-4877.
Forty Days of Prayer
Council Member Judy Ward announced that the first organizational meeting has been scheduled for the fourth annual Forty Days of Prayer in El Dorado.
The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 4 in the Council Chamber of City Hall. The public is invited to attend.
The event was launched in El Dorado in 2015 to form a coordinated effort to promote peace and unity, with spiritual support from all corners of the community.
The format of the campaign includes different prayer topics, scriptures and devotionals that are submitted by participants who volunteer to write them and disseminated throughout the community — via social media, the El Dorado News-Times, word-of-mouth and other outlets — each day for 40 days.
Forty Days 2018 is set for Oct. 1 - Nov. 9.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.