Time has come for Elyria to wake up

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in his commencement speech at Oberlin College in 1965, chose “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” as his message. King stated: “There are all too many people who, in some great period of social change, fail to achieve the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands.”

Wake up, Elyria. There is a new outlook that Elyria’s current situation demands. Now is the time for citizens to exercise their right to be accurately informed and become active partners in the governance of their city. Demand the promise of excellence in experience and professionalism.

Wake up, Elyria. Demand transparency and forthright representation. There are tough questions to be asked and answered.

Why does there appear to be confusion on whether “Elyria is in the best financial shape that it has been in years” or whether Issue 6 bailout money must be used to avoid substantial collapse?

Why is transparency so difficult? Who can be counted on to accurately report the information? Why are average citizens, civic leaders, and officials met with such manipulative rhetoric? Is it all for the sake of an election or elitist arrogance?

Wake up, Elyria. There is power in the collective energy created by truth, reconciliation and inclusion.

Through active participation, corrections can be identified and workable solutions realized.

It is said, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

The time has come for Elyria to wake up. Enough is enough. Get informed. Become active participants.

Councilman Marcus Madison

Elyria