Unpacking the Mayor's Stipend: The Need To Improve Transparency in La Plata
By Councilman Paul Guttenberg, Ward I
Recently, concerns have surfaced regarding a stipend approved for the Mayor of La Plata, and it's a topic that needs clear public discussion. As one of your five representatives on La Plata’s Town Council, I want to provide a clear summary of the situation as I understand it, and explain why I believe this issue required the action taken to remove the stipend at yesterday’s Open Session Special Meeting of the Town Council.
The Genesis of the Stipend: A Closed-Meeting Decision
The story begins in July 2024, following the resignation of La Plata’s Town Manager. The Town Council at the time was dealing with continuity of operations issues after the Town Manager left his role. On September 3rd, 2024 during a closed meeting the Council met to discuss personnel issues. The only public statement that emerged from this closed session was a vague reference to the Council voting on a stipend for an "Acting Town Manager."
This lack of explicit detail sowed public misunderstanding. Many (including myself) assumed that the Assistant Town Manager, an existing town employee, would naturally assume the "Acting Town Manager" role and be the recipient of any associated stipend resulting from the closed session. If that assumption were the case a stipend would have been appropriate.
However, the official document from that closed session offered little clarity on the actual action voted on by the Council. It failed to explicitly state what we now know to be the action taken in the closed session:
The Mayor was designated as the "Acting Town Manager" (even if later it is disputed that this specific title was used verses the CEO title).
The exact amount of the stipend ($10,000 monthly, plus a lump sum, retroactive from July 2024).
The duration of this stipend arrangement.
Discrepancy and a Lack of Transparency
Fast forward to May 20th, 2025 during an open session it was argued the Mayor was exercising full CEO duties as per the Town Charter, and that the previous Council had approved a stipend for these duties. This argument contradicted the earlier closed meeting form, which referred to the stipend as being for "Acting Town Manager" duties.
This discrepancy in terminology between the September 3, 2024, closed session and the May 20th, 2025 open session statements, to me, raises questions about the intent to be transparent regarding the outcome of the closed session.
The Open Meetings Act tells us formal "actions taken" during a closed session must be disclosed. The deliberations can remain confidential, but the resulting actions must be made public. When the Council approved a specific dollar amount for the Mayor's stipend to act as either the “Town Manager” or for additional “CEO duties” on September 3rd, this should have been reported publicly. This would have provided an essential opportunity for public inquiry and discussion into the action.
During the May 20th open session it was also argued during our public deliberation that a stipend is not a salary and is therefore not an addition to the mayors already in place annual salary of $21,000. To me this asks people to suspend common sense. The word stipend is literally a synonym for compensation, wage, pay, and salary. I cannot agree with the assertion that the stipend does not change the mayor’s salary.
Concerns About Legitimacy of the Mayors Stipend
Beyond the transparency issues, I have concerns about the legitimacy of the stipend itself. My analysis of our Town Charter and Ordinance 21-06 to me reveal contradictions to the arguments I have heard that the stipend, because it was approved by the Council, was a valid approach to the original continuity of operations challenges they were addressing at the time.
La Plata Town Charter, Article V, Section C5-1: Explicitly states that neither the Mayor nor any Council member can be appointed as Town Manager during their term or within one year after it expires.
Ordinance 21-06: This ordinance imposes a clear restriction on changing an elected official's pay during their current term, and caps the Mayor’s annual salary at $21,000.
Given these explicit provisions, and not having additional information on other factors under consideration by the Council in its closed session deliberations in 2024, it is my opinion that the stipend should not have been approved. It appears to contradict both Article V of the Town Charter and Ordinance 21-06. This is why, at our open session on May 20th, I voted to remove the stipend.
Moving Forward: My Commitment to Openness
As your Councilman, I am committed to upholding the principles of transparency and accountability in our town government. If deliberations appropriately require use of a closed session, it must be paired with clear public disclosure of the actions resulting from legally closed deliberations. This is necessary to provide the opportunity for public awareness on those actions.
I hope this information provides a clearer understanding of this complex issue. I encourage residents to stay engaged and informed as we work together to improve transparency in La Plata’s town government.
Clip of the Open Meeting Deliberation on The Mayor’s Stipend.
The views and opinions expressed on this Substack page are solely those of Councilman Paul Guttenberg and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Town of La Plata, Maryland or the members of the La Plata Town Council.