Supervisors to hold meetings countywide to encourage census participation

Imperial County supervisors plan to connect with the community by holding meetings where the people are. On Tuesday, they were at the Heber Community Center with a full house.

Ray Castillo, Supervisor District 5, said, ” We need to hear from the public. The meetings always start off with the public comment. And if you ever have anything to say that you don’t need to worry about having something put on the agenda. If you want to give a three-minute message to your public officials, that’s a perfect time during the public comment portion of the meeting. ”

The county highlighted the need to take part in the upcoming census which will be made online in the area.

Esperanza Colio , with Imperial County Administration, said, ” This community center is going to have a kiosk in the library section. And in that kiosk is going to be a computer where you can go and there will be internet available for you. And you’re going to fill your census information. So that way you don’t have someone knocking at your door and asking you questions . ”

But residents of the small town shared their own concerns, bringing out issues regarding youth activities and road improvements, among others, which they said were a priority for them.

Raul Miramontes said, ” I had an issue maybe about a year ago and a half. I don’t have that long like her living here but it’s been three years that I moved in. One of my daughters had a little pool and she almost drowned. Like she said, it was really important for the fire department to get there. ”

Jose Luis Olmedo , Comite Civico del Valle, insisted on county action when an official seemed to imply they could not respond to the town’s need regarding a street issue due to budget constraints.

“I would never be in a position to say we can’t get Caltrans , state, federal government or anybody or that we can’t find the resources for the community to make that happen,” Olmedo said.

The county plans to hold other meetings countywide highlighting the upcoming census that can greatly impact the area. Ocotillo, Palo Verde and Salton City are among those communities on their schedule.

“We’re hoping that there will be full participation by the public in general,” Castillo said.