Peninsula 360 Press editorial office
Redwood City. San Mateo County has the highest rate (72%) of self-reporting in the 2020 Census in California. According to journalist Pilar Marrero in an article for Ethnic Media Services, this was achieved "through their work with local organizations that know their communities very well.
According to Megan Gosh, a census management analyst with the San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs, the agency has been working since January 2018 on census self-reporting efforts.
"We had a lot of challenges: 13 of San Mateo's 20 cities have a combination of factors, having a census history that is classified as 'hard to count', as well as having unincorporated areas throughout the county," Gosh told Ethnic Media Services.
But the campaigns haven't stopped. "There are areas in Redwood City that have very low participation. We want to increase the participation of our Latino community in these areas," said Connie Guerrero, director of We Vote Redwood City, an organization that has done intensive work in person and on social networks to promote census self-reporting in this city.
So on Sunday, September 12, a group of Latinas from Casa Circulo Cultural and We Vote Redwood City, accompanied by Redwood City Councilwoman Giselle Hale, took to the streets in a last-ditch attempt to "promote the census and, as Guerrero said, encourage people in these areas to get counted before September 30.
"As you know, in the census we all count. No matter your legal status, being counted means that your voice and your community will be represented," Guerrero said.
