Salisbury Mayor Calls Out Misinformation in Bargaining Debate

Salisbury, MD - Salisbury Mayor Randolph J. Taylor is speaking out and he's not holding back.

In a letter dated June 10, 2026, Mayor Taylor addressed a petition currently circulating in the city regarding the proposed elimination of collective bargaining for City of Salisbury employees.

The letter was directed to residents and made his position clear from the start.

The Mayor opened by reaffirming his support for workers. "I have always supported, and will continue to support, the right of employees to advocate for themselves," he wrote. He called that principle foundational and said nothing about this debate changes that.

But Taylor quickly shifted to what he called two issues that "must be stated plainly."

The first involves funding behind the petition effort. According to the Mayor, the state-level arm of AFSCME approached both the Salisbury Fire Department and the Salisbury Police Department to help fund the petition - and both declined. Instead, Taylor says AFSCME spent approximately $180,000 to bring in contract workers from out of state to push the effort forward.

"These individuals are not City employees nor City residents yet they are now shaping a narrative about Salisbury's internal operations," he wrote. "That alone should give residents pause."

The second issue hit harder. Taylor says he now has documentation showing that canvassers have been telling residents that the "Mayor/City has stolen money from the SFD and given it to the SPD," along with other false claims.

His response was direct: "Let me be clear: This is a lie. It is reckless, it is divisive, and it has no place in a serious conversation about public policy."

Taylor made clear the real issue at stake isn't whether the city values its employees - he says it absolutely does. The debate, he says, is about whether the current collective bargaining model is financially sustainable for Salisbury long-term.

"This administration has been transparent about the math," he wrote, adding that the current cost trajectory is "unsustainable for a city with Salisbury's revenue base."

The Mayor closed by saying he welcomes honest debate and good-faith disagreement, but he won't allow misinformation, especially from paid, out-of-state contractors to distort the facts or undermine community trust.

"Salisbury deserves a conversation rooted in truth, transparency, and fiscal responsibility," Taylor wrote. "That is the conversation I will continue to lead."

A copy of the letter sent from Mayor Randy Taylor is below.