EVERYBODY COUNTS: CITY MAKES PLANS FOR THE 2000 CENSUS

Knowing where every person in Cape Girardeau lives counts for a lot.

Ask Rich Daume. He has spent weeks pouring over maps and checking city boundaries to make sure every resident is accounted for when census counters come to town.

Even though the 2000 census is still months away, getting prepared is a long process.

Daume, a geographic information systems technician for Cape Girardeau's planning department, has to check every address in the city to cross-reference it with lists from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Now Daume is getting ready for a tough job -- visually checking every address to make sure a house still exists and everyone gets counted.

Without correct addresses and street maps of the city, census personnel won't know where to go or who to count, Daume said.

With a number of houses being demolished through flood buyout programs, and new subdivisions being built, the population of Cape Girardeau has changed since the last census count.

Census officials want to make certain that every U.S. resident gets counted.

The United States conducts a census every 10 years as required by the Constitution. Census counts have been taken every decade since 1790.

With the 2000 census, city leaders are seeking help from the community to make sure there is a complete count of residents. A Complete Count Committee will meet May 11 at 4 p.m at the Osage Community Centre to discuss how to make sure every person gets counted.

"We're going to focus on the populations that don't get counted," said assistant city manager Walter Denton.

The group's task is to find ways to promote the census and methods that assure everyone gets counted.

"We don't believe that just getting an estimate of people is a proper way," said Mayor Al Spradling III. "We want a physical count."

The committee includes residents from all areas of the community geographically and particularly groups that are often under-counted or overlooked.

Everything from representation to federal funding rests on population figures, said John Mehner, Chamber of Commerce president.

And in an area like Cape Girardeau, "we are too big to be little and too little to be big," Mehner said. With upcoming census counts, Mehner expects to get a metropolitan designation.

But it is still too early to know how a complete count will affect the city, he said. "There's just so much the census shows."

Spradling said, "We hope it shows good growth and the importance of how that affects us."

Complete Count Committee

The mayor and city leaders asked about 20 people to attend a meeting May 11 at 4 p.m. at the Osage Community Centre to discuss the 2000 census.

The following people were invited:

John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Jim Settle of Southeast Missouri State University.

Howard Meagle, general manager of KFVS-12 television station.

John Zimmer of Zimmer Broadcasting.

Tamara Zellars Buck, president of the Cape Civic Center.

Harry Rediger, former Cape Girardeau school board member.

Narvol Randol Jr. of Bank of Missouri.

Steve Del Vecchio, business manager for the Cape Girardeau School District.

The Rev. Paul Short, pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church.

Don Sherwood, Area Wide United Way board member.

Max Stovall, Cape Girardeau county commissioner.

Michael Miller, city manager.

J.J. Williamson, insurance agent and former city councilman.

Melvin Gateley, city councilman.

The Rev. David Allen of the NAACP and head of Martin Luther King Day celebrations.

Kay Azuma of Caring Communities.

Mel Van de Ven of Schott and Van de Ven accountants.