Nutter aide to direct census

Philadelphia's 2010 census preparations moved a step closer to ready yesterday after Mayor Nutter tapped Patricia Enright, his deputy chief of staff and communications director, to serve as executive director of Philly Counts.

That's the city's campaign to prepare and educate residents about the census. The mayor will formally launch the initiative on Tuesday.

"I am excited that Tricia has agreed to take on the enormous responsibility of spearheading our efforts," Nutter said in a release distributed with the announcement. "She brings the experience, energy and creativity necessary to ensure that every Philadelphian understands just how important it is to be counted."

Enright is delighted with her new position.

"It's exactly the sort of project I love," she said. "Our goal is to get a count that reflects the makeup of Philly and shows that Philly is in fact actually growing."

She said her first chore would be to raise money for local census efforts and to put together committees made up of elected, nonprofit, religious and other community leaders to help spread the message about the census. Her salary will not change.

No stranger to large campaigns, Enright managed Nutter's general-election mayoral campaign and Gov. Rendell's re-election campaign, and worked on the presidential campaigns of John Kerry and Al Gore.