April 13 was one of the most consequential and dramatic meetings in recent Salisbury City History as the Council and Administration progressed with a plan to strip away collective bargaining from first responders and municipal workers.

In this special episode of Open Agenda, we break down what happened during the meeting and what comes next.

Please note the time stamps below and consider sharing. This issue will certainly affect all of us regardless of your particular view on the topic:

0:06 Overview of the Proposed City Legislation

1:38 Nick Rice’s Presentation of City Finance

4:35 Mayor Taylor’s Argument

7:23 Trish Melvin’s Takeaway

7:45 Sheriff Lewis’ Comments

9:29 Police Shortage Discussion

12:29 Michael Lankford’s Comments

14:32 Nick Simpson’s Comments

16:00 Joe Venosa’s Comments

18:38 The Status of Negotiations

22:44 Jaime Dykes’ Testimony

25:24 Worsening First Responder Shortage

28:28 Angela Blake’s Behavior

Will Salisbury be able to balance public safety needs with fiscal realities? On the Friday, April 17 edition of OPEN AGENDA (S3 E23) we'll brief you on the heated battle taking place within the city government that may result in the loss of collective bargaining rights for municipal employees. Salisbury is heading into some tough financial times. Costs exceed revenues and the budget is only being balanced by drawing down the “surplus” account. So, elected officials may have to make some very unpopular decisions to keep Salisbury solvent, including exercising more control over rising labor costs by eliminating collective bargaining. But without collective bargaining, will the city be able to offer competitive wages to attract and retain employees? Will police/fire/EMS be disproportionally affected, thus impacting public safety? If the city cannot control costs, then tax increases will be coming down the pike once again. But Salisbury is already the third highest taxed municipality in Maryland. How much more tax burden can citizens tolerate? It seems we're backed into a corner with no attractive options. Maybe selling the city's prime downtown “surplus” properties for a small fraction of their market value, and giving millions in tax breaks to real estate developers wasn't such a good idea after all. But, it's only money. They'll get more (from us).