Mayor Randy Taylor comments on the crosswalk controversy

MARYLAND – The City of Salisbury held a council meeting on Monday evening, July 8, where public comment on the city’s Pride crosswalk made up the majority of the conversation. Many people spoke up and many opinions and ideas were expressed. Mayor Randy Taylor went on camera for the first time with WMDT to discuss the issue.

Mayor Taylor says his decision to remove the colors on the crosswalk had nothing to do with any disdain for the LGBTQ+ community and says this should have been looked into a little more. “It has everything to do with fairness, staying neutral and supporting everyone, not just a single group… We’ve come to a place as a city where we’ve developed, I think, an inappropriate association with a particular group that is somewhat political in nature. And I’m just saying there’s an artful way to deal with that now and that’s why I’m working with the public arts committee.”

MT Tuminello, a member of the arts committee, was present and said he was there and gave his opinion. “These Pride crosswalks were the very first in the entire state of Maryland and they deserve to be protected as a cultural landmark. If he succeeds in removing them, what’s next, where does this all end? Is the Black Lives Matter mural next?”

There were other speakers, all with different views. Lisa Gingrich said she didn’t feel like she was included in the demonstration. “As soon as you put up a sign that says we’re all the same, but it’s clearly a sign of a certain group, then we’re not all the same. And I think that alone is not inclusive.”

Other community members like Tim Starnes said that this could bring us closer together. So we can keep looking for a rainbow, for a Haitian thing here, for all these different subgroups, but we’re going to chase this until the end of the day. What if we found, just a question, something we could invest our time and money in? What if we found something we could invest our time and money in, something that we all have in common? Something that would really unite us honestly?”

Mayor Taylor says crosswalks should be exactly what they should be, but when it comes to art, there should be a process. “I want to give artists a chance…if we treat it as an art corner. Artists have the opportunity to express their own version, we would have a small committee that selects…We have a lot of activities here, it could be a good place to do some art on these crosswalks.”

The paint on the crosswalk is currently peeling, which has led to discussion of repainting it. Mayor Taylor hopes future discussions will lead to a solution, and residents say they will continue to represent both sides until the issue is resolved.