AS I SEE IT
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
If you are wondering what to do with all of the free time that you have now that you are sitting at home with no public events going on due to the COVID-19 virus, here is a great idea. Take the 10 minutes or less that is needed and complete the 2020 Census Survey online.
By now, most of McKenzie County’s residents should have received a mailing from the U.S. Census Bureau with their 12-digit census ID number, which will allow them to complete the short survey.
While having an ID number is nice, you don’t have to have one in order to complete the survey. When you log onto the census site at www.my2020census.gov, just click that you don’t have an ID number and you will be allowed to proceed.
Why is it important to complete the census survey now?
The answer to that question is easy. It gives us an accurate number of people who are living here right now. And that information drives how much money the county and local governments receive for educational programs, transportation enhancements, and health and human services programs, to name just a few.
Those same census numbers are used in the decision making process that businesses use to decide whether or not to open locations here. The more people that we have living here justifies more businesses deciding that this is a good place to do business.
Finally, if we have an accurate census count, it is realistic that McKenzie County could have its own legislative district, which would give us better representation in Bismarck.
There is a lot at stake for McKenzie County and Watford City in the 2020 Census. We have seen our population grow exponentially since the 2010 Census and we need to have an accurate count in this census.
So don’t wait for a census worker to come to your door. Go online now and be counted.
FARMER NOW OFFERS ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS!
If you have visited the McKenzie County Farmer’s website, www.watfordcitynd.com, recently you no doubt noticed that we have made some very significant changes.
While the site still continues to offer a short recap of the top stories that are in our latest issue of the newspaper, the biggest change is that we now offer our readers the opportunity to subscribe to our online edition of the newspaper, as well as to subscribe to our printed paper.
We are extremely pleased with how easy the new site is to navigate and that those people who choose to subscribe to the online version will now be able to see our newspaper on their computers, laptops and cell phones.
We encourage you to check out the new site.