As a member of the East Ridge Complete Count Committee it saddens me to see that bad people take something good and use it to hurt others. My sympathy goes out to those in Red Bank that were victims of people using the Census Count to hurt them.

It is important that we make sure everyone is counted. The Census Bureau and local governments want to make sure that you get your information included in the count. This month, you will receive in the mail a form with 10 questions to fill out. Please complete the form; your information is safe. ATere is nothing to worry about. After you fill it out, mail it in.

If you mail in your form, no Census worker will come to your door. The addresses that do not mail in the form may get a visit from a census worker between April and July to follow up.

The message that I want to get across to everyone is: do not let anyone in your house that you do not know. If someone comes to your door this month, March, and says they are there to do the Census, do not let them in and immediately call the police. Write down a description of the person or persons and what they are wearing. If they are in a vehicle write down a description of the vehicle and tag number if you can safely get it.

The Census is important to us all, but citizens’ safety is the priority. The Census Bureau keeps your information safe, but only you can keep yourself safe. If you ever feel uneasy about anyone coming to you and you feel like they are misrepresenting themselves, do not hesitate to call your local law enforcement.

We cannot stop people from doing the wrong thing, but we can try to arm you with the information to protect yourselves. If you live in East Ridge and have any questions or concerns about the Census please feel free to call East Ridge City Hall at 867-7711.

A correct and complete count can mean federal money to communities for hospitals, senior centers, transportation, schools, job training centers and emergency services. It is important that everyone be counted. So fill out your form and mail it in

Stay safe,

Frances Pope
East Ridge

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The gal who was violently attacked last Saturday is a friend; thank God she was not killed. Yes, we all have to be careful who comes to our door. And, yes, the census folks have no business at our door if we complete the form and mail it in.

But let’s get this clear. The federal government has no constitutional right to ask anything other than the number of occupants in our home. They do not need to know whether we have flush toilets or what ethnicity we are, or what our source of heat is, or how much we made in income last year. Remember the IRS? Don’t they have that? And there’s a $100 fine for each question not answered, with a max of $5000? I could go on, but it’s clear this government is into total control. And the more Big Brother takes over, the more we’re going to see the sort of ‘entitlement mentality’ that prompts act of aggression and violence like that of last week’s. God help us.

I’m certain our founding fathers are ‘turning over in their graves’ right about now. So while some encourage us to complete this violation of privacy, I’m praying that a constitution loving, patriotic law firm somewhere will file a lawsuit against this intrusive abuse of our freedoms. Where does it stop?

Jo M. Peckinpaugh

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After reading the opinion and response about the census I have a couple of things to address. Yesterday I received the letter in the mail telling me that sometime in the next week or so the official census form would arrive in the mail. There actually is a web address on the letter www.2010census.gov that will take you to the census website. You can look at the form there but cannot fill it out online.

First and foremost, out of the ten questions there is nothing about flushing toilets, household income or what I consider personal information on the form that is displayed on the website. Nowhere do they ask for anyone's social security number. The one and only question that I would even consider "personal" is asking for a phone number, which is easy enough to find anyway. They claim to ask for it only if they need to call because they don't understand an answer.

I'm fairly conservative in my way of thinking, and I don't consider what they're asking is in any way personal. Ms. Peckinpaugh seems to follow the fact that there are questions that invade one's freedom. I encourage her to go and look at the form before she starts asking some law firm to take on the case. And as far as her math, being that there are only 10 questions and a $100 fine for each questions not answered, how does she come up with the figure of $5,000.00 for forms not completed fully? Maybe if everyone would just think before they start, rumors like this would not rear their ugly heads.

Maybe the online sample is wrong; I don't know. But I'm gonna wait till the official form arrives in the mail before I get myself into a twist about it. My advice to everyone is to just wait for the form to arrive, fill it out and mail it back in. That way no one should show up at your door.

Craig Collier
zook1@bellsouth.net