Tuesday is Election Day in Salisbury – and voters have a lot to consider.

Three people are competing for mayor, with the top vote-getter taking office later this month.

Four of the city’s five council districts include competitive races, with only District 5 containing a single candidate.

Since late summer, an abundance of issues has been discussed, including Downtown redevelopment, neighborhoods, city spending, crime, infrastructure and the needs of the juvenile population.

Seldom in Salisbury’s history have there been so many divisive issues, with so many people having contrasting viewpoints.

Where to vote

Polling locations are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Call the Wicomico County Board of Elections Office at 410-548-4830 if you are unsure of your polling location.

• District 1 Poll – Fire Station 16, 325 Cypress St.
• District 2 Poll – Oak Ridge Baptist Church, 361 Tilghman Road.
• District 3 Poll – Asbury United Methodist Church, 1401 Camden Ave.
• District 4 Poll – Wicomico Presbyterian Church, 129 Broad St.
• District 5 Poll – Deaf Independent Living Associates, 806 Snow Hill Road.

Mayor’s race

Jermichael Mitchell, Megan Outten and Randy Taylor each want to be mayor.

Salisbury has a strong-mayor form of government, which means Salisbury’s executive leader wields significant power within city government.

Mitchell, 39, is a youth leader, a former city neighborhoods official and an outspoken advocate for inclusion and change.

At age 30, Outten is the only candidate with City Council experience – she was appointed to Heath’s District 3 seat when he became mayor. Though she was a Wicomico County Council Democratic candidate last fall, she has not won an election.

Taylor, 58, a former commercial banker with M&T Bank and political conservative who now restores homes and operates a rentals business, has centered his campaign on challenging the city’s decision-making process in awarding surplus properties to developers.

City Council – District 1

 Salisbury City Council President April Jackson, daughter of the late community leader Billy Gene Jackson who was first elected to the City Council in 2015, is being challenged by Lavonzella “Von” Siggers, a former City Council president who last held elective office in 2009.

Siggers did not respond to multiple interview requests.

District 1 is Salisbury’s minority district and encompasses the city’s West Side as well as neighborhoods in the north end of town.

Unlike her fellow council members, Jackson has been vocal in recent meetings about ongoing construction in the city’s Downtown as well as the planned development of apartments and commercial spaces on what was once a city-owned parking lot.

City Council – District 2

 Newly appointed City Councilman D’Shawn Doughty of Creekbed Circle will face challenger Wayne King of Priscilla Street who made an unsuccessful run against then-mayor Jake Day in the 2019 city election.

The district includes areas in northeastern Salisbury.

Doughty was appointed on Oct. 2 to fill the District 2 council seat left vacant after former Council President Muir Boda resigned to become the city’s new Director of Housing and Community Development.

A native of the Eastern Shore, Doughty was born and raised in Salisbury’s District 2. After studying business administration at Salisbury University, he started his career in finance at Bank of America as a loan before moving to his current job as development manager at Green Street Housing which is building affordable housing in Salisbury.

Doughty is a proponent of the city’s efforts to redevelop several Downtown parking lots with apartments and commercial spaces. More apartments are needed in Salisbury, but there is a particular need for affordable housing, he said in a recent interview on PAC14.

Opponent Wayne King, first filed to run for mayor, but withdrew from the race and became a candidate for the District 2 council seat instead.

King’s campaign focus is on what he sees as Salisbury’s biggest problems: Downtown development, crime and property taxes. What he would like to see instead are clean, safe neighborhoods, low taxes and new jobs.

The current City Council members “rubberstamp everything” and are “all on one side,” with the occasional exception of Council President April Jackson, King said in a recent interview on PAC 14. “We need people to ask questions,” he said.

City Council – District 3

 With the current District 3 council member, Megan Outten, now running for mayor, the City Council will see at least once newcomer following the election.

Sharon Cannon Dashiell of Russell Avenue will face Joan Michalowicz of River Oak Court. 

Michalowicz, however, has stated she is not actively campaigning for the seat.

John Foley is running as a write-in candidate.

The district is in the south end of the city.

Dashiell has questioned how and why the city made certain decisions in implementing its Vision Zero program, designed to increase pedestrian safety.

She has also voiced concerns about last spring’s property tax increase and said more needs to be done within the city’s neighborhoods.

 City Council – District 4

 City Councilwoman Michele Gregory, who is completing her first term representing District 4, will face challenger Harvey Evans III in the city election.

The district includes Newtown, Downtown and south on Route 13 near the Wawa store.

“It’s a good cross section of the community,” said Gregory in a recent interview on PAC 14.

A resident of Parkway Avenue, Gregory said the areas of concern she hears most from her constituents are the health and wellbeing of families and the community, public safety and the economy.

She is a proponent of efforts to build new housing in Salisbury by offering incentives to developers through the city’s Here Is Home and Horizon programs.

Gregory is an early childhood educator and former small business owner who has lived in Salisbury for more than 20 years.

Evans, a longtime Newtown resident, has questioned the city’s infrastructure decisions and criticized the city’s efficiency in keeping streets clean and garbage picked up on time. He has also called for better policing efforts to combat crime.

City Council – District 5

Incumbent Angela Blake of Sandstone Court has no challenger.

Originally appointed to the council, she is seeking her second elected term.

Blake works as a social counselor and has proven a highly engaged council member.

District 5 is in the central and southeast part of town.