Engaging Town Residents: Ensuring Local Voices Shape Decisions
By: Paul Guttenberg, Candidate for Town Council Ward I
Earlier this week, all candidates running in La Plata’s 2025 general election were invited to a Candidate Forum hosted by the 4th & 5th District Democratic Club. One of the questions posed to each candidate was:
"What specific things would you do to involve residents of La Plata in the decision-making process?"
Below I discuss the challenges La Plata has today with resident engagement, what I will do about those challenges and the benefits of achieving the goals together in my four strategies to increase engagement.
1. Simplify Town Information
2. Boost Voter Turnout & Issues Feedback
3. Leverage Local Expertise Through Volunteerism
4. Foster Future Leadership by Encouraging More Candidates to Run For Office
Please vote for me Paul Guttenberg, as your Ward I candidate to help achieve these resident engagement goals together.
By entering your email using this free subscribe button you will get my articles directly to your email inbox, and I can send you a friendly reminder just before the election on May 6th to help maximize participation on voting day.
I believe it’s important for elected leaders to listen and learn from input given by residents and for more of La Plata’s residents to realize the opportunity to be involved in local issues and government. That’s why, as a town councilman, I’ll focus on these four strategies to improve resident engagement.
1. Help People Understand La Plata Better
The Challenge:
The Town of La Plata puts town meeting records online, and they can be hundreds of pages long each. These documents are an important part of compliance with the Maryland Open Meetings Act; however, the formal language, high page count and format can make them hard to read and understand without a significant time investment.
What I Will Do as Town Councilman:
I will advocate for implementation of simple tools to create new easy-to-read summaries of:
Meetings
Town council priorities
Important issues
Opportunities for our town
These new summaries will be more focused to help residents quickly absorb the topics and distribute them not only on the town web site but also on the towns social media accounts. This will help make information available in more places in a format residents are more likely to discover issues that are important to them.
Benefits of Paul’s Approach:
With better and timely access to summary information, more residents can become aware of what’s happening and when their input is most influential in shaping council decisions. This will create better ways for residents and the town council to work together.
2. Encourage More People to Vote and Share Their Ideas
The Challenge:
In La Plata town elections, not many people vote. Nationally on average less than 15% of registered local voters show up. In La Plata’s last general election less than 8% of registered voters cast a ballot at our Town Hall. This means a small group of La Plata’s residents determine important things like:
How fast our town grows
Property tax changes
Priorities for local legislation and town ordinances
Community policing practices
What I Will Do as Town Councilman:
I will:
Work for changes to our town’s voting ordinance to create expanded time for voting in future town elections.
Advocate for improved ways for residents to give constructive feedback. Like quarterly town halls and “listening sessions”. Town leaders must do a better job of providing a reason for people to invest their time on town issues by demonstrating a genuine availability to listen and to communicate the real impacts of resident inputs on issues.
Benefits of Paul’s Approach:
When more people vote and share their ideas, the town council has better information from residents and can take actions more in line with what the community wants. Together we can make La Plata better.
3. Leverage Local Experts and Resident Passion For Issues
The Challenge:
La Plata has commissions and boards that give advice to the town council and mayor, but it’s hard to find enough volunteers for these groups. Many residents have long commutes to work or have busy schedules, making it difficult for them to volunteer even though they care about town issues.
What I Will Do as Town Councilman:
I will:
Create short-term volunteer projects that don’t take too much time
Find ways to make volunteering more appealing
Clearly explain how volunteers help our town
Build stronger partnerships with local organizations and businesses
Benefits of Paul’s Approach:
People care about La Plata and each other, we should help to invite people with real ways they can engage on the issues they feel called to help with. When we make better use of our residents’ knowledge and skills, we can create a better La Plata together.
4. Helping Future Leaders
The Challenge:
Too many elections in La Plata have only one candidate. This means:
We miss out on new ideas
We don’t get fresh energy
We can’t pick the best person for the job
La Plata has an untapped abundance of talented people who can help run and lead our town.
What I Will Do as Town Councilman:
I will:
Meet with residents who are thinking about running for office
Help by answering questions to increase understanding of what serving on the town council involves
Ask other experienced residents with election experience to mentor new candidates too
Support programs like Citizens Academy in La Plata
Benefits of Paul’s Approach:
When more people learn about our local government and run for office, La Plata gets improved choices and voices to lead us into the future.
For better town government we must increase La Plata’s voter turn out for our local elections.
Please Vote on May 6th. You can find contact and candidate information for all the general election candidates on the town website. Please also share this information with your friends and family, and encourage them to vote.
Many candidates are also active on Facebook especially within the La Plata Community Group.
A “Vote Local” Plan For Town Council & Mayor
1. Plan To Vote:
Please Plan A Time on Tuesday May 6th You Will Vote at Town Hall.
2. Share Election Information:
Please Share Election Information with Your Family, Friends & Neighbors Who Live in the Town of La Plata. www.voteguttenberg.org/vote-local/
3. Cast Your Ballot On Tuesday, May 6th 2025.
Voting occurs in person at the La Plata Town Hall, located at 305 Queen Anne Street, between 7am and 8pm.
I ask that you consider voting for me as your Town Council representative from Ward I.
More than anything I hope you take the time to vote, and that you encourage others to do the same. When residents vote in larger numbers, it increases the emphasis for elected town leaders to engage and respond to concerns expressed by the public.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
Paul Guttenberg, Candidate for La Plata Town Council Ward I
