KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the numbers come in for how many people have completed the 2020 Census, the lack of response from downtown apartment dwellers has caused concern for Kansas City, Missouri, City Councilman Eric Bunch.
The Census determines not only city and state populations, but how much federal money flows in for projects and services. It also determines political boundaries from city council to U.S. congressional districts.
Census workers, according to Bunch, are telling the city they cannot get inside some of the apartment complexes to do their work.
"We had something like 8,000 individual cases," Bunch said. "Those are generally doors, all of which are in multi-family buildings, who were not being given access whether they couldn’t get anyone to open up the door for them or the property management was flat out refusing to let them in."
Cordish Properties, which owns One Light and Two Light, has more than 200 cases of units not filling out the Census, according to documents obtained by 41 Action News.
The company provided the following statement to 41 Action News:"
Census workers have had access to both of our buildings and we have responded to their requests for information. We have subsequently reached out directly to council and the census group to make sure we coordinate getting them all the information they need.
There are also another 200-plus cases at the Union Apartments by the Missouri riverfront. Port KC contacted the building's management and responded to 41 Action News with the following statement:
Port KC knows the value of completing an accurate Census and its long-term impact for future regional funding over the next 10 years. This could include direct impact to the streetcar extension, continued development at the riverfront and continued improvements to our community. We were advised early this week that The Union was one of perhaps 40 apartment buildings in and around downtown that had low Census response numbers. We immediately had conversations with the Census Bureau and Buckingham Properties, Union Berkley Riverfront apartment's building owner and property management company. They have been working together to collect accurate Census data for the riverfront, including by providing building access.
Dozens of other downtown apartments also are on the list, including the Courthouse Lofts, which denied any reports of not letting Census workers inside.
"While our building does have secured access and the entries remain locked to those without a fob, I can confirm that we have not turned away census personnel," building management said in a statement. "Any Census employee must simply follow the instructions at the door to reach the office, and they would be allowed access accordingly. We understand the importance of collecting Census information and would not hinder a Census employee’s ability in gathering that information within our community. Our staff has taken great measures to spread information within our community regarding the importance of responding to the census, including distributing printed materials and a community-wide electronic message through our resident portal to share pertinent links."
Federal law requires that Census workers be allowed into the buildings to do their work.
"We’re not going to have anything to show for it if we’re not allowing our Census workers to do their jobs," Bunch said.
Those who still need to complete the 2020 Census can do so online.
