Adopted 231 years ago, Article 1 Section 2 of the US Constitution says, “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states…according to their respective numbers…”
The Census numbers decide who loses or gains seats in the House of Representatives and in the Legislature. The Census results impact funding for federal programs desperately needed in Graham County.
The 2020 Census was complicated by anti-immigration questions being tossed by the Courts, COVID limiting access to certain sites and fear that answering questions would somehow expose our rugged individuals to government scrutiny.
Thanks to the extraordinary last-minute efforts of the Dogwood Health Foundation – with help from Reverend Eric Reece and others – the dismal Census results for Graham County were kept from being even worse.
Graham County’s population shrank by 9.4 percent in the past ten years. That is 831 people whose futures would be here if we had just held even.
There is more data to be released next week. These socio-economic statistics are updated more frequently. Data as recent as 2019 include Median Family Income of $39,571 and 17.05 percent Poverty Rate. Severely-declining population is a sign of a poor prognosis for the future of the place we all love. Young folks leave because they don’t see a future or want a different lifestyle. New full-time residents – the Census doesn’t count summer residents – don’t come here because the lifestyle they seek is unavailable. Potential employers can’t attract the managers and employees they need because the many factors that define quality of life are missing.
Communities die for many reasons. A major employer leaves town. Weather disasters like the Dust Bowl cause people to move away. Lack of vision from leaders both public and private, a paucity of nearby specialty and trauma medical care, and young people being turned off to the nasty business of politics all add to the demise of a community.
There is hope. The Corridor K extension – at least from Wolf Creek to downtown Robbinsville – has been confirmed. We need to keep going and accelerate the process to plan the road from Robbinsville to Andrews.
The lack of broadband is not an economic issue. It is a pure issue of the lobbying power of the big broadband providers to keep competition from local government from happening. There needs to be a coalition of statewide rural officials who say enough is enough. The Feds have made the money available in COVID relief legislation and more will come in the infrastructure bill. The industry protecting barriers bought by political contributions need to be knocked down to solve this barrier to a good future for Graham County.
The Nov. 2 Town of Robbinsville general election includes a referendum on ending the 74-year-old beer and wine prohibition holds the greatest promise for quickly moving Graham County forward. A positive vote will remove a major barrier to a future renaissance for Graham County.
For those of us who answered the Census questions, pat yourself on the back.
For the rest, the results of lack of participation are clear.
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, rcarlton57@hotmail.com.