RESIDENTS RALLY FOR THE TALLY UNDERCOUNTED AREA OF VALLEY IS TARGETED.

Byline: Steve Carney Staff Writer

PACOIMA - Mariachis played, residents danced and volunteers doled out refreshments Saturday during a block party promoting America's national head count.

About 4,000 people attended a Census Day rally that closed off part of Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Census officials and local politicians devised the event to inform residents about the census, encourage them to fill out their forms and allay any suspicions about the process.

``We don't care if they came for the census message or they came for the entertainment, as long as they came,'' said City Councilman Alex Padilla. ``There's nothing wrong with fulfilling your civic obligation and having a good time in the same day.''

He said the area in the northeast San Fernando Valley was one of the most undercounted areas of Los Angeles in the 1990 census. The population count is used to allocate federal funds, draw congressional boundaries and make other decisions affecting communities. As a result of the undercount in 1990, local communities and schools didn't get $44 million to which they were entitled, said U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Mission Hills.

Isai Perez, a Census 2000 community partnership specialist, said he reminds community members, ``We pay taxes. These services are ours. You need to make sure you're counted so we can get the services we've paid for.''

Gil Perez of Panorama City came to the rally with his wife, Matilde, and their sons, David, 5, and Benjamin, 3 months. They didn't know what the census form was when they got it, but received help from census workers at the rally.

``Now we understand the connection between our children's future and resources'' and the population count taken every decade, Perez said. ``It felt good to know we were contributing to something as important as this.''

The couple said they have friends who are undocumented immigrants, though, and even though they know the information won't be shared with the Immigration and Naturalization Service or other government agencies, they're still wary of submitting the forms.

Some suspicions within immigrant communities stem from a healthy distrust of governments in their home countries, said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City. He added that many residents don't realize filling out the census is a legal obligation. Instead they believe they're being good citizens by just ``keeping to themselves and living a good life.''

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Northeast Valley residents boogie Saturday to a Latino band at a rally in Pacoima to raise support for the U.S. Census.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer