FULTON COUNTY — While New York state has committed $60 million toward getting an accurate 2020 Census Count of all of its residents, county officials in Republican-controlled Fulton County appear not to want any of the money.
Nonprofit organizations in Fulton County on Feb. 18 were forced to form their own “Complete Count Committee” in support of New York state’s push for an accurate 2020 census count of all residents, after Fulton County officials indicated the county would not be participating in the process.
Denis Wilson, Sr., the executive director and CEO of Fulmont Community Action, said unlike in most, if not nearly all, counties in New York state Fulton County wasn’t going to form a Complete Count Committee.
“The last time I spoke to Scott Henze, the Fulton County planner, he said [Fulton County] is not going to participate in a Complete Count Committee,” Wilson said. “I decided, myself, as the director of Fulmont, that we needed to form a Complete Count committee in Fulton County, so we had a meeting and we had a lot of people show up, but we don’t have the ability to get the grants that can come through Montgomery County in Fulton County.”
New York state formed the “Complete Count Commission” in 2019, which held hearings and wrote a report with recommendations for how to make certain New York state would get the most accurate possible count of its residents for the 2020 Census, amid “unprecedented challenges” caused by President Trump’s attempt to include a citizenship question on the census form.
The U.S. Constitution requires all people to be counted, regardless of citizenship status. The Trump administration’s rationale for including the citizenship question in the census process was ultimately rejected by the supreme court, but the fear created in some immigrant populations, and anger in some politically rightwing areas such as Fulton County, may suppress compliance with the census.
The Complete Count Commission recommended all of New York’s 62 counties, and several of its largest cities, form Complete Count Committees made up of local government leaders and the leaders of the county’s nonprofit entities to devise strategies for promoting awareness of the census.
Wilson’s organization — which is a state licensed community action organization which provides government assistance to the poor including senior transportation and early childhood services — straddles both Fulton and Montgomery counties. Wilson participated in the Complete Count Committee formed by the Montgomery County Business Development Center on Feb. 13.
He was then surprised to learn Fulton County wasn’t doing the same thing.
At stake is $15 million worth of state grant funding being made available to the state’s 62 counties based on estimated population. While the state wants at least 75 percent of the money to go to nonprofit entities that deal with public, applications must be submitted by county governments, which will funnel the money to the organizations. The remaining 25 percent of the funds would be available for the municipalities to use themselves.
The state’s deadline for applying for the grant funding is March 2. However, an official present at Montgomery County’s Complete Count Committee meeting said state officials have indicated there may not be a hard deadline for the grant applications, opening up the possibility of a late submission.
Wilson said without Fulton County government participation, the nonprofit entities in the county will have to promote the census without any grant funding assistance.
“It would be very, very beneficial to have them, that’s my view, because there’s money attached to it,” Wilson said. “This benefits no one. It’s detrimental to everybody, not just the politicians who are elected, but money that comes in our direction for all types of grants and funding.”
Some of the things at stake with the every-ten-years U.S. census include: how congressional legislative districts are drawn and how $675 billion in federal funding for housing, education, transportation, employment training, health care and social service programs are disseminated at the local level.
Henze did not return phone calls seeking comment for the story. Officials at Fulton County’s Planning Department said Henze is on vacation.
Fulton County Administrator Jon Stead could not be reached for comment Friday.
Perth Supervisor Greg Fagan, who chairs one of the county committees that oversees the county planning department, said he was unaware of the state grant process for the census.
“This is the first I’m hearing of this,” Fagan said. “I know Scott hasn’t mentioned any of this at our meetings. I know the census works on an individual level, and I don’t recall ever being approached on the county level for this, so this is new.”
Fagan said he’s not sure the Fulton County Board of Supervisors is interested in supporting the state’s 2020 census efforts.
“I’m sure we all want a complete count, but I’m not sure you’re going to get us to go along with the state’s rules, if you know what I mean,” he said.
Consequences of not counting everyone
Joseph J. Salvo, the chief demographer for New York City’s department of planning, told the New York Times in 2018 that he estimates at least 500,000 illegal undocumented immigrants live in New York city.
While it is not known how many of the illegal immigrants participated in the 2010 census, even a small drop in their participation in the 2020 census due to fears over the attempted citizenship question by the Trump administration, and other well-publicized attempts to deport illegal immigrants, could result in the loss of more congressional seats for New York state.
The U.S. Census Bureau currently estimates New York state has about 19.5 million residents, up slightly from 19.4 million in the 2010 Census count. For all prior U.S. Census counts, the federal government attempted to make a voluntary head count of every resident. The Trump administration, for the first time in U.S. history, will allow an Internet response option to the census in addition to traditional means.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates New York state lost about 76,790 residents between 2018 and 2019.
New York state is projected to lose at least one of its 27 representatives in Congress, as are Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia, but an additional loss of population could result in New York losing two congressional seats, the most of any state. New York state lost two seats after the 2010 census, and two seats after the 2000 census.
The total number of congressional seats are capped at 435, and states like Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon are expected to gain one congressional seat.
Fagan said he, and likely many other conservatives in Fulton County, support the inclusion of a citizenship question on the census, despite the risk to a loss of congressional representation for the state.
“There should be [a citizenship question]. I believe, to be counted in the census of the United States, you ought to be a citizen,” he said.
In a case of perhaps deep political irony, the loss of two or more congressional seats for New York state could put the 21st Congressional District seat, currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, at risk of having its territory substantially changed. Stefanik’s home in Schuylerville sits at the edge of her district, and was until 2012 part of the district of U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam.
Stefanik has been named honorary chairwoman of Trump’s New York state reelection committee. Trump carried Fulton County in 2016 gaining 65.2 percent of the vote, 12,759, more than doubling Hillary Clinton’s 5,805 votes, 29.7 percent of the total.
The Democratic Party, which picked up eight New York state senate seats in 2018, currently has an 18-seat majority [40 to 22 Republicans] in the state senate with one seat vacant, which may give Democrats an advantage over Republicans during the congressional redistricting after the 2020 census, although that process will be conducted through as yet untested “Independent Redistricting Commission” approved by voters.
The Commission will include 10 members with the majority and minority leaders in both chambers of the legislature each getting two appointees to the commission, and then the final two positions chosen from the eight appointed members.
Count challenges in Fulton County
The 2010 U.S. Census counted 55,531 residents in Fulton County. The federal agency currently estimates 53,591 people reside in the county.
New York state’s Complete Count Commission estimates there are at least 9,433 people who will be “hard to count” in Fulton County. Neighboring Montgomery County has a slightly higher hard to count estimate at 10,485.
For perspective, Albany County has 60,503 who are expected to be hard to count, Schenectady County has 30,449 and Saratoga County has 35,215.
The state’s Complete Count Commission determined the Mohawk Valley Region (Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego and Schoharie counties) has the highest percentage of householders aged 65 or older, 29 percent, and the highest percentage of households in New York state with dial-up internet or no internet access entirely, 22 percent, both metrics that will be essential for an accurate count in 2020 with the introduction of online Census questionnaires. New York state estimates 94,840 people may not be counted in the self-response phase of the 2020 Census.
Fagan said the U.S. Census Bureau has sent information to his town to advertise for temporary census count workers, which he is displaying at his town hall. He said he hopes people will fill out the census form.
Greg Young, Gloversville’s 5th Ward Supervisor, said he thinks some residents of Fulton County may decide not to fill out the census forms because they fear an invasion of privacy from the census questions.
“A low census count means that congressional districts like the 21st will only get bigger and bigger, which means we will have less of a voice with not only our member of congress but our state legislators as well,” he said.
Wilson said one of the government leaders who attended his nonprofit Complete Count Committee on Feb. 18 was Assemblyman Robert Smullen, R-Meco, who told the committee he supports getting every resident counted.
Wilson said the nonprofits represented at Fulton County’s Complete Count Committee included representatives of Fulmont Community Action Agency, Fulton County Office for Aging and Youth, Fulton Montgomery Mental Health Association, Fulton County Department of Health, Fulton Montgomery Community College, Fulton Montgomery Regional Chamber of Commerce, CAPTAIN Community Services, United Way of Fulton County, the Gloversville Senior Center and the First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown.
Gloversville 4th Ward Supervisor Charlie Potter, a Republican and staunch supporter of Stefanik, said he sees no upside for Fulton County not supporting as complete a count as possible of all of its residents.
“I know Denis Wilson, he’s a good man and he leads a good organization and if he would need help in getting this grant process going, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him and see what’s going on,” he said.
Wilson said he believes all of the nonprofits participating in Fulton County’s non-government-backed Complete Count Committee will do all they can to promote awareness and participation in the census, but the task would be made easier if they could access state grant funding.
New York state rules for the $15 million in state grant money for the complete count initiative include that the money can be spent on things like distribution of census marketing literature, to reimburse the cost of door-to-door conversations to promote the census, conducting outreach informational sessions and implementation of targeted media campaigns and other methods.