CAMDEN — By TAMMY FRAZIER
Managing editor
This week, the Camden Noon Lions Club had as its guests Camden Mayor Julian Lott and Ouachita County Judge Robert McAdoo and both men stressed the importance of participating in the upcoming U.S. Census.
The group met at Catherine’s Bistro.
The website www.census.gov states that the most important reason people respond to the census is that they learn the census will guide how much money a community gets from the government. However, the website states that a survey finds only 45 percent of the people who were surveyed knew that the census plays a tremendous part in an area receiving federal funds.
To help get the word out, Lott and McAdoo informed members of the Lions Club that census numbers are imperative to the financial health of the area.
Prior to the mayor and the judge taking the podium, Lions Club member Bishop Chester Thompson shared that “progressive things are on the horizon for Camden,” and suggested that when people begin to talk negatively about the town, residents need to begin highlighting the positive things the town has to offer.
Lott took the podium and stated that the 2020 U.S. Census is required by the Constitution. He said he is committed to doing everything possible in Camden to prepare and promote the census.
“The census figures determine the federal and state funding for education, transportation, for infrastructure - for those of you fussing about new roads or a fresh seal on your street; it takes care of workforce, economic development and health care,” the mayor stated.
Lott also said that the census has “everything to do with where schools are located, senior centers, housing, health clinics,and even our fire stations.”
The census also determines the number of elected officials an area can have, and will “set the course for the next 10 years for our community,” said Lott, adding that the census will affect how $675 million in federal funds “will be divided within local communities.”
He said Arkansas is predicted to have a “significant under-count in the 2020 Census,” with the reason being that the census can be taken online, but the state is 48th in broadband access.
Lott also explained that when members of a household refuse to participate in the census, it hurts funding for everyone in that area - including the underprivileged.
The mayor shared that a “Complete Count Committee” been formed to focus “on insuring an accurate and representative count” of all residents.
Lott also stated that there are also some employment opportunities with the census that will pay up to $14 per hour and reimburse the employee at a rate of .58 cents per mile.
McAdoo then spoke and told the Lions Club members that he and Lott have been meeting weekly to find a way to cover the area and get everyone to participate in the 2020 U.S. Census.
The judge said that even though many in rural Arkansas may not have internet access in their homes, most people have access to it on their cell phones.
“But we challenge you: If you know of someone who does not have technological abilities or services, then we ask our people to step up and help those people,” McAdoo stated, “because, as the mayor says, ‘it’s very important.’
“...I read the Camden News daily, and I look at the obituaries and man, over the last four or five months, we’ve lost a lot of people to death in Ouachita County and Camden. But, there is a glimmer of hope.”
The mayor said that glimmer is that one of the Lions Club members married someone in the Cherokee Addition in Camden. He said they moved from California and someone with the moving company stated that it was the 15th family that they have help move from California to Camden.
“And that’s just one moving company,” he stated. “So you know there’s other moving companies doing the same thing. So as the bishop said earlier, there are positive outlooks coming for Camden and Ouachita County.
“We’re on the brink. We’re on the brink of something big.”
McAdoo stated that during a recent economic development event, someone talked about two prosperous areas in Arkansas: One was Northwest Arkansas, but the other was Camden and southwest Arkansas.
“That’s huge,” he said.
He implored the audience to “talk the census up. Share it with folks. Tell them ‘you count in 2020’ because if we lose too much census, we’re gonna have more potholes because we can’t fix the roads and the bridges, and that’s huge.”
Right now, Camden has 47% of the population in Ouachita County, the judge said, with Ouachita County rural having 41% of the population, other towns make up the other 12%.
“So it’s very important,” he stressed. “Pass the word. Pass the word that you’ve got to be counted in 2020.”
He said he wants to see the area have a growth - even if it’s only nine people.
During the meeting, it was mentioned that the Lions Club will partner with the Camden Fairview School District’s Cardinal Care Clinic to help provide glasses to students who need them.
Among the services it provides, the district’s clinic offers eye care screenings. This partnership is ideal because one of the missions of Lions Club International is to impact lives through vision-related work, states www.lionsclub.org.
Also, the club will give away four bookcases to youngsters during its meeting on May 29, and books are needed to give to the students as well. Donations of books can be made at Catherine’s Bistro until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28.