My thanks to the Review for Ava Miller’s Oct. 28 article on the City of Oberlin’s new partnership with Lorain County Community College (“City Partners with Lorain County Community College to Provide Industry Certificates to Residents”). As the article notes, this workforce development initiative will allow Oberlin residents with financial need to complete LCCC FastTrack programs, which link directly to high-demand jobs available in the county, at no cost to them in terms of tuition and fees.

The LCCC partnership is the first major initiative that has resulted from the City’s social equity planning process. The City will soon be hiring a social equity coordinator, who will work to move forward in other areas of the social equity plan including housing, health, mental health, police relationships, economic opportunity, government, justice, transportation, food empowerment, sustainability, and recreation. I am especially hopeful that the City will be able to have a significant impact with affordable housing. The City is also working with Cleveland’s Center for Community Solutions to develop detailed data on social equity disparities in Oberlin and to survey residents about various questions related to social equity.

All of this positions Oberlin well to make significant progress in improving social equity in our City.

Ray English, Director of Libraries Emeritus and Member of Oberlin City Council