TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS IAM A CREW Leader for the Bureau of Census and have 16 people in my crew who are out in Central VT counting those who did not return their census forms. Although there have been warnings nationally about people posing as census workers to obtain personal information, I didn’t think it would happen in VT. It has. One of my crew reported three households in Barre had been visited by bogus census workers and another crew member reported the same in Northfield.

Each crew member has a small badge on a black lanyard identifying them by name. They carry a black briefcase with the front panel stating US CENSUS in black and blue letters on a white background. The census questionnaire is a six-page form with a blue background.

The census worker will be asking the number of people in the household, their relationship to the owner or renter, their ages and birthdates, if they are of Hispanic or Spanish origin, race, other locations household members may stay and if they own or rent their home. They also ask for a telephone number for quality control reinterviews. They DO NOT ask for credit or financial information, social security numbers, income, health conditions, employment status, insurance information or education completed.

Should one be suspicious about someone claiming to be a census worker, they should ask to see the person’s crew leader’s name and contact information in their AA binder and then contact the crew leader.

Lastly, I want thank all those who have been hospitable to my crew members and provided the requested information. It helps make their day.

JOHN B. STEVENS

Northfield