
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180549
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CITIES WRESTLE WITH CENSUS PROBLEMS

The 1990 census is bypassing a few people. Like those who live in the odd zip code, subdivision or skyscraper in Houston.

Officials from that city and others gathered Tuesday to trade tales of woe and ask the federal government for help in the high-stakes head count that will determine how much aid they'll get and how many congressional representatives they'll have for the next decade.

"There is still time for an accurate count," said Hulbert James, director of special projects for New York City.

But he and others said that will only be possible if the government provides more money for the count, keeps its district offices open well into next month and launches a major publicity campaign to persuade people to fill out forms and talk to Census Bureau counters.

James said the 1990 head count is in "a crisis situation" in the cities. He and other officials, members of a census task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, gave snapshots of what is going on in their cities:

Houston officials initially estimated 10 percent of city residents did not get census questionnaires and were projecting a maximum $40 million loss due to undercounting. But that was before a special census phone line started getting 900 calls a day from people who didn't receive forms.

"We discovered that whole zip codes were being missed," said Patty Knudson. She said entire subdivisions were skipped and entire skyscrapers filled with condominiums failed to receive forms.

Jessica Heinz, deputy city attorney in Los Angeles, said 70,000 forms were returned to the post office as undeliverable. And she said 108 of 556 people in a recent survey did not recall receiving forms.

Jai P. Ryu of Baltimore said 81,000 census forms were returned as undeliverable to a Towson, Md., office that serves the Baltimore area. James said New York City found 1,000 blocks with more than a half-million residents that were not on the census list of addresses. He suggested many still were not on the list at mailing time.

The Census Bureau has estimated as many as 4.5 million people did not get census forms. James said the number may be closer to 9 million.

by CNB