U.S. Census Staff Coming to Smithville Thursday to Offer Mobile Questionnaire Assistance

August 12, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

U.S. Census Bureau Staff will be in Smithville Thursday, August 13 for mobile questionnaire assistance to help people respond online to the 2020 Census. Look for them on the corner of the county complex across from DeKalb County Ace Hardware from 7 a.m to 5 p.m.

The current DeKalb County self response rate to the census is at 50.3% which is approximately 12% below the Tennessee average. Self response rates for the cities are as follows: Liberty-49.2%, Alexandria 55.2%, Smithville 57.4%, and Dowelltown 57. 4%. The final county wide response rate for 2010 was 62.3%.

More than 3,000 U.S. Census Bureau staff are now going into communities with the lowest 2020 Census response rates to encourage and assist people with responding on their own to the 2020 Census. This operation, known as the Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) program, is a separate activity from census takers going door to door to count households that have not yet responded. MQA is part of the Census Bureau’s final push to encourage people to complete the 2020 Census. The Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation began nationwide Tuesday, August 11.

MQA representatives will encourage people to respond to the 2020 Census in open, public places in the lowest responding areas of the nation. These are places where people naturally visit when leaving home to help increase self-response rates. People are encouraged to respond on their own online or by phone. Locations for MQAs will include grocery stores and markets, food banks, laundromats, restaurants and grab-and-go eateries, unemployment offices, back to school drives, places of worship, and libraries.

The local census response representatives will help people complete the census on a 2020 Census tablet or on their own device, while practicing state and local social distancing protocols. All census workers have been trained in social distancing protocols and issued personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks to be worn during MQA support.

About 62% of households across the country have already responded online, by phone or by mail since invitations began arriving in mid-March. The Census Bureau is selecting where to provide MQA based on local response rates and conditions.

If people need help responding in a language other than English, Census Bureau staff can provide phone numbers or assistance responding online in 12 other languages. Staff will also have guides available in 59 languages that walk people through how to respond to the English questionnaire.
All staff will carry an ID badge with their name, photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark seal, and an expiration date. They will have an official Census Bureau-issued bag and tablet. MQA locations will have banners bearing the 2020 Census logo.

In the interest of public health concerns because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Census Bureau staff will decide on a weekly basis whether MQA activities will take place in a low-response area in coordination with local partners.

For more information, visit 2020census.gov.

August 11, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

As part of an effort to promote more transparency, the DeKalb County Commission is encouraging the public to join them in a forum Thursday night to learn more about services available to the county by the UT County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).

CTAS County Government Consultant Ben Rodgers will be the featured speaker at the meeting which starts at 6 p.m. at the County Complex Auditorium.

Everyone is encouraged to attend including the citizens of DeKalb County and all local elected public officials, county employees, and other stakeholders.

(ClICK LINK BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CTAS SERVICES)

http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/content/our-services

Rodgers joined CTAS in 2005 and assists counties in the Upper Cumberland area (Region 3). He graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in accounting. Rodgers worked in public accounting for over two and half years prior to joining CTAS.

CTAS is not new and DeKalb County officials have often sought guidance, advice, and services from it over the years. CTAS offers assistance in every aspect of county government finance — budgeting, purchasing, investing, debt management, insurance and risk management. CTAS attorneys author many CTAS publications, draft and review legislative proposals, monitor General Assembly action, and compile private acts of each county.

After recently defunding the county’s financial advisor position, the county commission expects to rely more on CTAS, specifically Rodgers, in assisting the county with budgeting and financial matters and other services going forward, much of which CTAS offers the county at no charge.

First District Commissioner Julie Young said Rodgers will be a valuable asset to the county as he has been for other counties in the region.

“He will tell us what he (CTAS) offers not just for our county but almost every county surrounding us. Already many of our elected officials use his services. They (CTAS) provide training that we can all go through free and Mr. Rogers can also do for the county the same on our budgets for free that Mr. (Steve) Bates was doing and being paid by the county. We are trying the save the county money and be more transparent. Our county is in good shape (financially) but we have to be financially responsible to our constituents. I encourage everyone to join us for this meeting and meet Mr. Rodgers,” said Commissioner Young.

“County government can only work if we all work together and that includes the taxpayers and the commission. We have to work together,” said Fourth District Commissioner Janice Fish Stewart. “ We want to be as transparent as we can be and we want to encourage the participation of our citizens. We want them to meet Mr. Rodgers and ask him questions. He is already a valuable resource. If we have questions about a procedure or the Tennessee Code that we deal with as commissioners we can call him and he has the answers for us and if he doesn’t he gets back to us. I want to encourage people to come to this meeting and participate with us,” said Commissioner Stewart.

August 11, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Barring another delay, DeKalb County Schools plan to re-open on Monday, August 17.

The Director of Schools and Board of Education have issued some reminders for employees, parents, and students.

PARENTS:
Each day before leaving your home you should check your child’s temperature and ask the following questions:

*Have you been in close contact with a person with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19?
*Have you had an unusual cough or shortness of breath?
*Have you had a sore throat or other flu like symptoms?
*Have you had a new loss of taste or smell?
*Have you had vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours?

If your child can answer yes to any of these above questions or has a fever, please do not send your child to school that day.

Employees should also answer the above questions.

COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS:

10 DAY SICK WINDOW:
Anyone testing positive for COVID-19 must isolate themselves at home for 10 days from the onset of their symptoms or 10 days from the date their test was done if they never developed symptoms, Fever must be gone and they must be feeling better for at least 24 hours.

14 DAY QUARANTINE:
Anyone who has been within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for 10 minutes or more must quarantine themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they were with that person. These time periods do not change with a doctor’s note or with a negative test.

Do not return to school if you live in a household with someone who is awaiting test results

MASKS:
Effective August 17, 2020, all students, staff and visitors to DeKalb County Schools are required to wear a face covering when entering the building. These are required in all common areas. If you chose for your child not to wear a mask or face covering you need to contact your child’s school to sign your child up for remote learning.