Salisbury Mayoral candidates talk diversity, future development at NAACP town hall

SALISBURY, Md – Salisbury Mayoral Candidates Megan Outten, Jermicheal Mitchell, and Randy Taylor addressed the community head-on during a Tuesday night Town Hall hosted by the Wicomico County NAACP, addressing issues posed by audience members.

Diversity in Town Government

The 3 candidates were asked about the lack of Diversity in the city’s governing structure, pointing to a lack of any POC department head within the town, a reality all 3 acknowledged must be changed.

“I worked in the city, and  I know there’s a language barrier and the biggest thing is, again, we have to start hiring people who reflect our community,  there should be at least a Creole-speaking person or Spanish-speaking person in every department and not just a speaking person, a person of that ethnic background,” Mitchell said.

“I would be really keen to see a workforce development opportunity for those employees at the city level to make that movement up and directed to those director roles,” Outten said adding she would support a full-fledged DEI position being added to the town in addition to the HR of the city receiving accreditation for DEI.

“I was surprised at the lack of diversity in the current structure of the city, the department heads and I think we need to operate, we need to speak to that issue as a general statement going forward,” Taylor said.

Future Investment 

But where the three began to splinter in their views was on the future of development and investment in Salisbury, as it pertained to helping to fund and fix wealth and racial disparities within the town.

Taylor and Mitchell both criticized a Salisbury master plan to bring additional housing in the form of outside investment to the downtown, criticizing the significant tax incentives the town undertook to draw in those investment dollars.

“Every time we expend money, we’re making a value judgment. And if we’re spending money on infrastructure and we’re not spending it on homelessness or other problems in the community, and that’s a decision we all have to make together as a taxpayer base” Taylor said stressing his 30-year background in businesses as a strength for him to get better deals for the town’s tax base.

Mitchell says his background is working with kids in the community, and he believes programs for housing at-risk youth need to be boosted, but says that can’t happen if the tax revenue is going to appease developers.

“We need a place to house the kids, to be safe, there were a couple of organizations here in our community that has tried those things and are continuing to try those things, and I just think we have to support them more, we have to put more funds towards that and we have to find out where in our budget, where we are misappropriating funds,” he said.

Outten however says the future development offers a long-term benefit for the area, citing her work as a Council member getting involved in communities and constituents.

She agrees with Taylor and Mitchell that the town needs to communicate its steps better with the community and be open to feedback, but she says the projects go beyond downtown in their scope and impact.

“It isn’t just about downtown, nor should it really be all about downtown, it should be about Salisbury, and these incentives are going to provide better opportunities for all of Salisbury and ultimately, that’s what I want to see,” Outten said adding “instead of waiting for the residents of Salisbury to come to our City Council meetings, we need to go out there and engage with them and get their feedback and be a lot more proactive than we have been in the past.”

Housing Concerns

All 3 candidates spoke on the issue of unaffordable housing in the area, hoping to make more efforts to bring new houses.

Mitchell says that the Here is Home initiative was a good first step, but believes it, similar to the masterplan was too lenient in its tax burden on developers.

“It was a great program but we are giving these things away and the housing is coming, but not fast enough,” he said.

Outten says the program was designed to fill a specific niche, and says housing needs a broader lense.

“Here is home was a great opportunity, especially during a very specific time when we needed incentives to bring that development to the city of Salisbury, we needed to make ourselves a way more attractive market than we actually are. That being said, it was there to benefit the community for a very specific time,” she said adding “45% of our residents live at that asset limited income restricted that ALICE level or poverty level household, we really need to recognize that we’re current not just in a housing crisis, but in an affordable housing crisis.”

Taylor says as a property owner, he is aware of that shortage firsthand and says the low-income nature of the area is a reason to be even further skeptical of tax-write for developers.

“The average household income is $48,000 in a town where the rents are 1200 dollars a month on average. So, obviously, you know, our budget is limited and how it gets increased is in raising taxes, which we’ve had for increases in the last ten years, impacts people,” he said.

NAACP reactions

NAACP Chapter President Monica Brooks tells 47ABC she was happy with the candor and frankness of the town hall but says she would like more clarity and communication from the candidates on their plans to expand community policing, as the police department is headed by the Mayor.

She tells us she also wants to hear from candidates on issues of affordable housing and transit options for those of low income in the city.