Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and other community leaders on Thursday kicked off a campaign to ensure an accurate count of Miami-Dade County's Hispanic population in the 2010 Census.

``This is not a particularly sexy issue,'' Diaz said at a news conference at Miami City Hall. ``But this is the most important issue for this city and all cities.''

Most experts, including Census officials, believe the decennial enumeration significantly undercounts Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minorities. Some fear the severe recession will make an accurate count next year even more difficult as millions of people are displaced from homes and communities because of foreclosures or loss of employment.

The undercount means that cities like Miami and other Miami-Dade municipalities with heavily- or majority-Hispanic populations are underrepresented in Congress and the Florida Legislature, and lose out on millions of dollars in federal funds that are dependent on population counts, Diaz said.

The local campaign, which boasts a website, www.miamicensus.com and is using the slogan ``Ya es hora! Hagase contar!'' (It's time, make yourself count!), will focus on engaging community groups, unions and Spanish-language media in persuading sometimes-reluctant Hispanic residents of the importance of filling out their Census forms. The Univisión network is a partner in the campaign.

The effort would supplement a $600 million official government outreach campaign, the Census Partnership, which would recruit thousands of organizations, news outlets, school children and minority leaders to spread the word about the census, using traditional media as well as social networking sites.

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