Hilltopics follow-up

Google Earth founder Brian McClendon, e’86, [“World View,” issue No. 4, 2012] and Joyce Warshaw co-chair the Kansas Complete Count Committee, created by Gov. Laura Kelly to help the U.S. Census Bureau promote participation in the 2020 census. 

McClendon, a Lawrence Democrat and research professor in the School of Engineering, and Warshaw, the Republican vice mayor of Dodge City, worked with the governor’s office and the Kansas Department of Commerce to fill the committee, which includes elected officials from across the state and representatives of nonprofit organizations such as Dane G. Hansen Foundation, El Centro, Kansas Appleseed, Kansas Catholic Charities and Kansas Farm Bureau.

“It was great to see such a broad range of Kansans focused on helping Kansans get counted in the Census,” McClendon said after the committee’s first meeting, in Wichita in September. “It was a very productive session with many stepping up to take on more.”

The committee’s goal is to ensure an accurate census count for the state.  

“Every voice is important, and every Kansan must be counted,” Governor Kelly said. “In addition to the amount of federal funding that is on the line, we need an accurate picture of our communities so that we can properly plan for the future.”