RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A CITY OF CHICAGO COMPLETE COUNT COMMISSION
WHEREAS, accurate recording of the population of the City of Chicago by the United States Census Bureau during the process of conducting the 2020 Census is vital to all Chicago citizenry to ensure and maintain a representative democracy; and
WHEREAS, reports found in various electronic and print media documented nearly two hundred thousand people within the City of Chicago, most of them in African American communities, were not included in the 2010 United States Census; and
WHEREAS, at that time, ample concerns were raised by state and civic leaders that purported large numbers of Chicago citizens were undercounted by census workers who either failed to go forth into certain communities or improperly recorded answers provided by reluctant residents; and
WHEREAS, such undercounting by the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as improper recording of responses given by the citizenry of Chicago, has multiple adverse consequences to the city and the state, including, but not limited to, the loss of congressional representation for the State of Illinois and diminished federal funding to provide essential services; and
WHEREAS, during the 1990 United States Census, a documented history of undercounting certain Chicago communities subsequently forced a recount to be ordered after the U.S. Census Bureau acknowledged that multiple census workers may have not actually checked residences or did, in fact, make inadvertent mistakes; and
WHEREAS, it is imperative that this legislative body immediately form and fund a Complete Count Commission comprised of Aldermen working alongside volunteers from not-for-profit, faith-based, civic, and business leadership. This commission will be tasked with developing an outreach plan to encourage all residents of the City of Chicago to proactively participate in the 2020 Census; and
WHEREAS, the Complete Count Commission is expected to offer its collective insight, knowledge, and expertise to reach out to all people, including hard to count populations; and
WHEREAS, this commission will create working groups to advance its objectives and define areas on which to focus and address. These groups will also develop timelines, meeting schedules, as well as identify and secure the funding resources needed to accomplish these goals; and
WHEREAS, working with similar commissions formed by other governmental bodies within the County of Cook and the surrounding collar counties as well as throughout Illinois, the City of Chicago Complete Count Commission will urge the United States Census Bureau to provide census takers who are familiar with diverse communities and who are willing to devote the energy and time necessary to convince reluctant residents to participate in the crucial process of being recorded in the United States Census; and
WHEREAS, the Honorable Roderick T. Sawyer, Alderman of the 6th Ward, and the Honorable David H. Moore, Alderman of the 17th Ward, have apprised this august body of the significant impact a complete and accurate census has upon the City of Chicago and the pressing need for the formation of a Complete Count Commission to secure such an outcome; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and members of the City of Chicago City Council,
assembled this 13th day of March, 2019 A.D., do hereby establish the immediate formation and
funding of a City of Chicago Complete Count Commission for accurately recording the population
of the City of Chicago during the 2020 U.S. Census in order to insure the proper representation and
secure the proportionate resources for all of this city's citizens thereby guaranteeing a genuinely
representative democracy. » \
