The Southeast Michigan Census Council (SEMCC) is an advocacy organization formed in 1990 as an outgrowth of the Detroit Regional Census Advisory Council. ¹ It tracks demographic and population data of southeast Michigan for use by governments and other organizations. ²

SEMCC is based in Southfield, Michigan, and has been run entirely and solely by Patricia (Patty) Becker through APB Associates, the private consulting firm of Becker and her husband, Allan. ³ SEMCC is a frequent signee in letter-writing campaigns is a coalition partner of The Census Project, which aims to influence Congress and the Executive Branch on Census-related issues such as funding and transparency. ⁴

SEMCC was among 131 left-progressive advocacy her organizations to participate in two friend-of-the-court briefs filed in July 2018 supporting lawsuits against U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over a new proposed question in the 2020 Census which would have asked whether a person was a United States citizen. ⁵ In July 2019, the Trump administration dropped its effort to include the question. ⁶

History

Originally called the Detroit Regional Census Advisory Council, the Southeast Michigan Census Council (SEMCC) formed in 1990 to track southeast Michigan data regarding population and related statistics. ⁷ The organization is based in Southfield, Michigan, and filed as a domestic nonprofit corporation in Michigan on May 11, 1990. ⁸ SEMCC received federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in 1991. ⁹

According to the group’s tax returns, SEMCC’s primary purpose is to communicate and educate on Census issues through monthly newsletters, direct communication, an annual training conference, and bi-monthly education luncheons. ¹⁰ Since its incorporation, the SEMCC has been solely run by Patricia C. (Patty) Becker, through APB Associates, an independent consulting company that she co-owns with her husband, Allan. ¹¹ Becker also chaired the Detroit Regional Census Advisory Council prior to the SEMCC’s formation. ¹²

Funding and Corporate Structure

Southeast Michigan Census Council’s first publicly available tax returns from the 2002 tax year reported total revenues of $95,038; total expenses of $102,236; and total assets of -$4,625. ¹³ No employee, officer, director or trustee was paid more than $50,000. ¹⁴ APB Associates is listed as a private independent contractor for staff support, receiving $70,278. ¹⁵ APB Associates is the private consulting firm of SEMCC executive director Patricia (Patty) Becker and her husband, Allan. ¹⁶

SEMCC is governed by a volunteer board of trustees which has varied in size from nine members in 2002 to six members in 2007. ^{17 18} In the 2002 tax year, SEMCC board members were employed by public universities (Wayne State and University of Michigan), the planning departments of Oakland and Monroe (Michigan) Counties, the Southeast Michigan Health Association, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, United Way Community Services in Detroit, and Public Data Queries. ¹⁹

As of August 2020, for tax years after 2008, the SEMCC reported less than $50,000 in revenue and therefore was required to file a simple IRS form 990-N “e-postcard” return. ²⁰

Membership information is scant as well, however a 1997 listing in Crain’s Detroit Business reported the SEMCC’s membership numbered 100 and membership dues of $60. ²¹ Members include government and private nonprofit agencies, school districts, consultants, libraries, academicians, advocacy groups, and private companies. ²² In 1992, a letter submitted by the SEMCC to a Congressional committee regarding the 2000 census questionnaire included its then-membership of 44 Detroit-area governments and agencies, state agencies, public school districts and universities, private businesses such as the Detroit Edison Company and Standard Federal Bank, and the Detroit Free Press. ²³

Activities

The Southeast Michigan Census Council’s activities have included a monthly newsletter, a quarterly luncheon series, conferences, workshops, as well as national Census and American Community Survey planning. ²⁴

SEMCC executive director Patricia Becker intertwined her work with the Census Council and her private consulting company, APB Associates, in an effort to impact the 2000 Census, telling the International Association for Social Science Information and Technology in its 1996-1997 report:

“On the national front: I’m representing the ACLU on the 2000 Census Advisory Committee as well as PAA (Population Association of America) on the Census Advisory Comm. of Professional Associations and the Southeast Michigan Census Council on the American Community Survey Product Development Group. This means a lot of trips to Washington! I have monitored all aspects of the 2000 census plan, and the issues in Congress, very carefully.” ²⁵

The SEMCC is listed as an ad hoc coalition member of the Census Project, which seeks to influence Congress and the Executive Branch on Census-related issues such as funding and transparency through letter-writing campaigns, congressional testimony, fact sheets, news releases and articles, and blog posts. ²⁶

The SEMCC was among 131 left-progressive civil rights and other organizations to participate in two friend-of-the-court briefs filed in July 2018 supporting lawsuits against U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over a new citizenship question in the 2020 Census. ²⁷ In July 2019, the Trump administration dropped its push to include the question, which would have asked whether a person was born in the United States. ²⁸

People

Patricia (Patty) Becker has been the executive director of the Southeast Michigan Census Council since its official formation in 1990, working as an independent contractor for the SEMCC through her consulting company APB Associates. ²⁹ Prior to the SEMCC’s formation, Becker chaired the Detroit Regional Census Advisory Council which operated in the same capacity as the current organization. ³⁰

Gary J. Petroni is the executive director of the Southeastern Michigan Health Association and is listed on SEMCC tax filings as the SEMCC’s principal officer from 2008 until 2015. ³¹

1. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
2. “Southeast Michigan Census Council.” American Planning Association. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.planning.org/cm/provider/99800/details/.
4. “Stakeholder List.” The Census Project, December 29, 2015. https://thecensusproject.org/stakeholder-list/.
5. “131 Groups Fight to Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, July 25, 2018. https://civilrights.org/2018/07/25/131-groups-fight-remove-2020-census-citizenship-question/.
6. Wines, Michael. “2020 Census Won’t Have Citizenship Question as Trump Administration Drops Effort.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 2, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/us/trump-census-citizenship-question.html.
7. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
8. “SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN CENSUS COUNCIL, INCORPORATED.” Bizapedia, August 21, 2015. https://www.bizapedia.com/mi/southeast-michigan-census-council-incorporated.html.
9. “Southeast Michigan Census Council Incorporated: Southfield, MI: Cause IQ Profile.” Southfield, MI | Cause IQ. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/southeast-michigan-census-council-incorporated,382934959/.
10. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Part I. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
11. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
12. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
13. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Part I. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
14. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Schedule A Part I. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
15. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Schedule A Part II. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
17. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Part I. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
18. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Schedule A Part IV. Accessed August 1, 2020.

    https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2008_06_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200712.

19. Southeast Michigan Census Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990 EZ), 2002, Schedule A Part IV. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/382934959/2003_10_EO%2F38-2934959_990EZ_200212.
20. “Southeast Michigan Census Council Incorporated: Southfield, MI: Cause IQ Profile.” Southfield, MI | Cause IQ. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/southeast-michigan-census-council-incorporated,382934959/.
21. “BUSINESS CONNECTIONS.” Crain’s Detroit Business, February 24, 1997. https://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/19970224/SUB/702240876/business-connections.
22. American Community Survey Profile Michigan, 2005. Edited by Southeast Michigan Census Council and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Jan. 2007, www.semcog.org/desktopmodules/SEMCOG.Publications/GetFile.ashx?filename=AmericanCommunitySurveyProfileMichigan2005January2007.pdf.
23. “Testimony for the Hearing Record of October 1, 1992.” 2000 Census Planning: Decennial Census Questionnaire Content: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Census and Population of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session, October 1, 1992, U.S. G.P.O., Washington, D.C., 1992, pp. 110–114.
24. American Community Survey Profile Michigan, 2005. Edited by Southeast Michigan Census Council and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Jan. 2007, www.semcog.org/desktopmodules/SEMCOG.Publications/GetFile.ashx?filename=AmericanCommunitySurveyProfileMichigan2005January2007.pdf.
25. “Regional Report 1996-1997: United States.” IASSIST, April 22, 2020. https://iassistdata.org/about/regional-report-1996-1997-united-states/.
26. “Stakeholder List.” The Census Project, December 29, 2015. https://thecensusproject.org/stakeholder-list/.
27. “131 Groups Fight to Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, July 25, 2018. https://civilrights.org/2018/07/25/131-groups-fight-remove-2020-census-citizenship-question/.
28. Wines, Michael. “2020 Census Won’t Have Citizenship Question as Trump Administration Drops Effort.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 2, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/us/trump-census-citizenship-question.html.
29. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
30. Becker, P. [Patty]. (n.d.) Home [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved August 6, 2020 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-becker-62312414.
31. NonProfitFacts.com – Tax-Exempt Organizations. Accessed August 2, 2020. http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/MI/Southeast-Michigan-Census-Council-Incorporated.html.