staff :>

okay but what if i stashed all of my valuables in my locked chests and then the mayor could just take all my stuff and i wouldn't even notice it :/ also staff exists

The first problem is that staff is often overworked with tickets (or so i heard).

Secondly, the issue zimo said would be called "Insiding". In this case, I few that towny (that gamemode no one plays, not the plugin) rule 6 should apply, where it gives guidelines on what to do in this situation. The mayor should be able to unlock the chests and place it in storage for a certain amount of period, after that its the towns.

In this case, there will not be a problem of the mayor taking stuff unnecessarily, while allowing them to still clear items/chests deemed obstructive etc.

or make it that mayors can only unlock residents chests who werent online for a month

If mayor wanted to steal someone’s locked items they would just do it with plot clear command.
As Gav7 said, staff is overwhelmed, and if there are lot of chests to be unlocked it can be really annoying and time consuming.
If this can’t be implemented, then I think the best compromise would be that when a resident gets kicked out of a town (this btw happens automatically after one month of inactivity) all their locks should be cleared.

yes, cool idea migaa_03, but unless they own a plot (embassy) in the town