Just before this past Christmas, we discovered that the U. S. Census Bureau had “found” just under 80,000 new Louisianans for the period July 1, 2006 through July 1, 2007. The jump appeared without any normal announcement or posting on the Census website, much less an explanation of its basis. After a few days, we learned more: the upward revision was made when Census accepted utility hook-up data, mail-box counts, and the like, from Orleans Parish. To boot, we did not know then, and still do not know, a single thing about the “counting” in these data of temporary recovery workers, e.g., are they documented or not, if they were in fact included in these revisions.
Though I claim no specialty in the ways of the Census Bureau, I have studied their data for 30 years. Over that time, I’ve gained real respect for their work, and have often publicly defended and tried to explain that work as various public officials attacked it. So, I was more than a bit concerned when these revisions came out with so many questions surrounding them, only to learn that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was responsible for them. Even that fact would not have surfaced were it not for additional media reporting.
Don’t get me wrong, the data may be solid, the acceptance of heretofore unacceptable “counts” may be correct, the temporary workers being counted may be legally documented, and Ray Nagin’s heart may be in the right place. At the least, we are told by His Honor the Mayor, New Orleans will get more federal dollars (if that’s really a good thing) because of this “work.” Nevertheless, when we know we’re ramping up to Congressional reapportionment and state legislative redistricting, when we know how much opposition there is in New Orleans to a “smaller footprint” of the city, and when we know a lot of work has gone into NOT disclosing any details about this “revision” process, all of my alarms are going off.
I hope the Census Bureau will allay my fears. With the looming prospect of “statistical sampling” to augment the real head-count in the 2010 Census — thanks to the politicization of the Census by the Obama White House — now is not the time for the Census Bureau to join the ever-growing ranks of hinky federal agencies.
Elliott Stonecipher is a Louisiana demographer and political analyst. To e-mail him, click here.
