Over the last half-century, the American media has made a sport out of ridiculing Cleveland, Ohio. Forbes has listed Cleveland as the country’s most miserable city to live in. The official account for the city of New York recently tweeted, “A gloomy day in New York City is still better than a sunny day in Cleveland,” much to the anger of many Clevelanders. It’s even received the nickname “the Mistake on the Lake.”

It’s not always easy to mount a defense of my hometown. Deindustrialization hit Cleveland hard, and no recovery is in sight. Rates of poverty and violent crime rank among the highest in the country. Indeed, many Clevelanders embrace the local slogan: “Cleveland: You’ve Got to Be Tough.”

Maybe there’s something in that resolute spirit that’s made “the city of light” home to pitched political struggles — perhaps none more important than the 1970s battle over the proposed sale of the city’s publicly owned electric utility, the Cleveland Municipal Light Plant (Muny Light), fought by a progressive young mayor determined to stop it at any cost.