Jax City Council members host 3-day “Wake Up Everybody” census, voter registration campaign

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Does your community need more money? More representation?

You can send that message, loud and clear, to the federal government by filling out the U.S. census.

According to a 2019 Census Bureau estimate, the bureau is trying to make sure it gets a response from 21 million people in Florida.

Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole explains how the Jacksonville City Council members of districts 7, 8, 9 and 10 are working to make sure neighbors in those areas fill it out.

Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman of District 8, Councilman Reggie Gaffney of District 7 and Councilman Garrett Dennis of District 9 didn’t let a little rain stop them from urging people to fill out their 2020 census.

“I’ve already filled mine out. I did mine online. I think that’s a must for our community to get funds,” Sandrea told Cole.

City leaders and other volunteers took off from J.P. Smalls Park in Durkeeville and rode through the community for Day 1 of their “Wake Up Everybody” Caravan Campaign.

They will be riding through the communities in their districts on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

Councilwoman Brenda Priestly Jackson, of District 10, would have joined them as well but had to attend a Special Investigatory meeting on JEA.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 67.2% of people in Duval County have responded so far.

That’s up 3.8% from 10 years ago.

“We fill it out. It’s another thing whether the resources will get into our community,” Sherlene Matthews said.

Pittman, the organizer of the caravan, told Cole organizers specifically chose communities where the response rate is below 50%.

The federal government has more than $675 billion to divvy out. And if you want your community to get its fair share, you have to make sure you fill out the census.

Money for things like better schools, social programs, better housing and even roads — all of that is determined by the census.

“We really need everyone to fill the census out!” Sandrea said.

And it’s important in terms of funding and also representation.

The survey helps determine how many representatives Florida will have in Congress for the next 10 years.

You can fill out your census by mail, online or over the phone.

Pittman told Cole the areas with lower response rates also tend to be areas with lower rates of voter registration, so they’re also working to get folks registered to vote.

Learn more here about the census here: https://www.census.gov/.

Cox Media Group