Mayor Ireton delivers 2015 “State Of The City” speech
Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton delivered his sixth State Of The City address Thursday, highlighting strengths of the city and what still needs to be done.
Mayor Ireton says there have been a lot of updates to the city to revitalize it, including downtown grants and new establishments.
According to Mayor Ireton, crime dropped 21% in 2014 compared to data from 1994 when the city was home to 12,000 fewer people than it is today. Apparently, there were no murders within city limits in the past 29 months.
To bring city police officers up to speed with modern technology and requests for police transparency, Mayor Ireton announced all uniformed officers will wear body cameras by this June. This measure will reportedly cost around 140,000 dollars.
“It is very important that we move our police agency into this century and recognize that everybody needs to see what everybody else is doing.” Says Mayor Ireton.
Another issue addressed on Thursday was a new Fire Service Agreement. Under the current agreement, the Salisbury Fire Department serves nearly 65% of Wicomico County but city tax payers foot the bill.
In January, Mayor Ireton announced he was fighting for a new deal which would lower the amount residents in Salisbury, Delmar, and Fruitland have to pay in county property taxes.
According to Mayor Ireton, he contacted County Executive Bob Culver about that new agreement in January and has not yet received a response. Apparently, if action is not taken, the so-called “nuclear option” would be enforcing a mandate for fire trucks and ambulances to not leave city limits.
He hopes that elected county officials are willing to work with his administration.
“And if they are not, I will take every opportunity to call them out for an inequity to tax payers that they have created” Says Ireton.
47 ABC reached out to County Executive Bob Culver. His office says, the Maryland General Assembly has proposed legislation to address municipal tax differentials. Until that legislation is acted upon. the county will continue its own analysis. That analysis will apparently consider both municipal taxpayers and taxpayers who reside in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Mayor Ireton also announced his plan to place scannable QR codes in front of abandoned buildings, which will be linked to information about the property including its past owners.
In addition, he plans to introduce signs addressing road conditions. For example, signs that encourage citizens to reach out lawmakers on the state level if they unhappy with the road conditions.
