La Plata council asks manager to use town social media, other tools to boost public-hearing notice

The La Plata Town Council on April 14 asked the town manager to use official town-run social media and other communication tools as an additional layer of notice for public hearings while continuing to comply with all legal notice requirements.

The instruction originated in a council discussion of agenda-development rules. Councilman Johnson summarized his request as a desire to "use all available tools at their disposal to ensure that our public have proper notice of public hearings, i.e., social media platforms ran by the town of La Plata." Town Manager Stevens agreed staff could accomplish the request while preserving statutory notice obligations under the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

The council reached consensus (unanimous voices) and referred the item to the town manager with a request that staff return at the May 12 meeting with an implementation plan and staff-developed language for how those supplemental notices will be used and labeled.

The referral is administrative rather than a formal ordinance; staff was asked to ensure any expansion of posting practices would not change the legally required notices and to build in a fallback if third-party platforms are unavailable. "I would be hesitant to memorialize this or codify it in any way because I think it just gives us a point of failure," the town manager said during the discussion, urging a practical staff-led approach.

What happens next: The town manager will draft guidance for council review by the May 12 meeting and will schedule implementation steps if the council approves the approach.