HIAWASSEE, Ga – Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw and Hiawassee Mayor Liz Ordiales are strongly encouraging Towns County residents to participate in the upcoming 2020 census, and Mountain Movers and Shakers are joining in the effort to spread the word. The community group meets at Sundance Grill in Hiawassee each Friday at 8 a.m.

“This Friday, Oct. 4, we welcome radio personality Patrick Malone,” Mark Wolchko of the Mountain Movers and Shakers said. “Pat, of course, does so much more. Among his newest projects is the U.S. Census for 2020. Every ten years since 1790, a count of the population is taken to determine, among other things, the number of representatives each state has in Congress. The method of taking that count has changed over the years, and Mr. Malone is the coordinator for the Complete Count Committee of both Union and Towns County. The county Compete Count Committees were initiated by Governor Deal, and are being continued by Gov. Brian Kemp to try and ensure that each of the 159 counties in Georgia has an accurate count. Federal funds, roads, fire, police, not to mention U.S. Congressmen, are apportioned by the U.S. census.”

The census counts the population and households, providing the basis for the amount of congressional seats, redistricting, and distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to support states, counties and communities’ vital programs — impacting housing, education, transportation, employment, health care and public policy, census.gov explains.

“The job of the committee is to educate the public and to be like a trusted voice of the census, to encourage people to do it,” Malone said in July.. “Historically, the last census, 2010, Towns County had 87 percent response. 87 percent of the households in Towns County responded to the census. In Union County, it was 86 percent. We’d like that number to be in the mid-90s. We know we can’t get everybody, but we’re going to try to raise that number into the mid-90s.”

National Census Day, the reference date used for the census, is April 1, 2020.

“Early in March, every household will get a letter, and in the letter there will be the website that you can go to (and) do it online,” Malone explained. “There will also be a paper census, in case you don’t have computer access or are not computer literate, you can fill it out on paper and mail it in, and a phone number that if you’re uncomfortable doing either of those, you can call them and give them the census information over the phone. So there are three ways to do it. We hope that will facilitate more people filling it out.”

For additional information on the 2020 census, contact Patrick Malone can be reached at 706-835-1308 or by email at [email protected]