With the expansion of staff assigned to work on the 2010 Census project, the Mayor’s Census Task Force is poised to successfully continue its mission as directed by the Mayor and the City Council. The Census team at the City now includes Leila Paye, Brian Joyce, Angela Burkhalter, Lucie Passus, and two interns. 

Fall 2009 was a time full of activity for the Census team. It distributed over 30,000 Census calendars to various locations in Saint Paul, including libraries, food shelves, government buildings, parks and recreation centers, fire stations, charter schools, homeless shelters, women’s battered shelters, and non-profit organizations, such as Catholic Charities, Goodwill/Easter Seals, and the Salvation Army. 

Census staff also worked with community partners and the Census Bureau to promote the Census at 22 events throughout the Saint Paul area. Events attended included: La Familia Latino Family Festival, District Councils 2, 6, 7 Neighborhoods Clean-Up, a District 10 Halloween event, the Hmong New Year celebration, a Highland Park water tower tour, a Minnesota Centennial Showboat viewing, a Light Rail workshop, Fire Station open houses, the Hallie Q. Brown 80th Anniversary Gala, a health fair workshop at the Skyline Towers, and the Saint Paul Public Library bookmobile tour. 

On last Tuesday, January 26, Mayor Chris Coleman, elected officials, and other community leaders and members gathered at Cub Foods-Midway to kick-off the 2010 Census. The kick-off marks Saint Paul’s push to have every person in Saint Paul counted in the upcoming Census. 

The City’s Census website went live on November 2, 2009 and a direct link to the website can be accessed at www.stpaul.gov/census. A Census email account was also created where questions and comments to the Census Team can be sent to census@stpaul.gov. 

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The next Saint Paul Census Task Force meeting is scheduled for February 24, 2010 at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center, 179 E. Robie Street, Saint Paul, MN 55107 from 1 – 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting.