Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jun 2005
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2005 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: Deana Poole, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

MASILOTTI'S QUEST FOR DRUG TESTS SPLITS COLLEAGUES

With his performance and behavior as county commission chairman in 
question, Tony Masilotti has offered to take a drug test to prove he's not 
impaired -; and is calling for all commissioners to do the same.

Masilotti has requested that County Administrator Bob Weisman ask 
commissioners whether they would agree to undergo random drug and alcohol 
screenings twice a year. But the notion has left some even more bewildered 
about the chairman's behavior.

Masilotti's colleagues raised concerns about his performance in a story 
published Sunday in The Palm Beach Post. Some suggested Masilotti 
relinquish his 7-month-old chairmanship if his marital and health problems 
were getting in the way.

Masilotti's drug-screening proposal was met with a "no comment" from 
Commissioner Jeff Koons. But Commissioner Addie Greene was outraged.

"I wouldn't vote for anything as asinine and ludicrous as that," she said. 
"We're making a mockery of ourselves."

County Commissioner Karen Marcus, while having no problem with taking a 
drug test, said she saw Masilotti's move as an attack.

"When you're chairman, you don't just sort of attack your own board," she said.

Masilotti said this is an opportunity for the commission to set an example.

"Lots of times people in high places preach to others about doing the right 
thing," he said. "I think we need to set an example for the youngsters in 
the county to show that we don't just talk about it, that's the way we live 
our lives."

Masilotti sent his proposal to Weisman late Friday, just hours after he was 
interviewed by The Post about his absences from the dais.

Masilotti was apologetic, saying he has had four surgeries since injuring 
his back while riding dirt bikes last November. "It has been a tough year 
for me," he said. "Now that they're completed I expect to be at all the 
meetings for the next two years."

During Friday's interview, Masilotti was told what other commissioners said 
about his performance. He also was asked about persistent rumors that the 
painkillers prescribed for his back injury may have affected his ability to 
lead the commission.

He flatly rejected the claim and offered to take a confidential drug test 
to prove it. The Post declined.

Later Friday, he faxed his drug-screening proposal to Weisman: "Considering 
a number of Palm Beach County employees are subject to random drug and 
alcohol testing, I recommend the same random testing for our board members 
as we certainly want to hold ourselves to the same high standards."

He suggested that the commission discuss the idea at a meeting in July. "I 
think they'll be very supportive of it," Masilotti said of the other 
commissioners.

Commissioner Mary McCarty said commissioners shouldn't wait.

"If the chairman wants to drag the whole board into this issue, then why 
would he want to wait until July?"

But before commissioners consider subjecting themselves to testing, McCarty 
said, Masilotti should consider making his medical records public.

"Since his behavior is what is in question, he should make his medical 
records available to the public," McCarty said Sunday. "And they should 
start with pink eye from last week, and then go into the four back 
surgeries he's said he's had."

McCarty said if Masilotti releases his medical records this morning, she'll 
join him in taking a drug and alcohol test today.

Since the 1980s, when then-President Ronald Reagan launched his "Just Say 
No" war on drugs, testing has become a routine measure for corporations and 
government but a rare requirement for elected officials.

Weisman said county policy requires only employees who are in 
"safety-sensitive positions" to agree to random drug and alcohol testing. 
Such positions include drivers and those dealing with hazardous materials. 
The employees are picked randomly and are told in advance they are subject 
to the screening, he said.

Requiring random drug screenings for non-safety-related positions has been 
legally challenged across the country because opponents argue it's an 
invasion of privacy.

Nevertheless, calls for random drug screenings continue to be made. In 
January, a New Mexico legislator called for yearly random drug testing of 
the state's 1,500 elected officials, from the state's U.S. senators to 
local school board members.

Hialeah in Miami-Dade County has a decade-old rule that allows elected 
officials to be tested randomly for drugs. Newly elected council members 
and the mayor have one week to take a test after they take office.

Told about Masilotti's proposal, Commissioner Burt Aaronson said: "We 
should be held to the same standard as anybody else. If we do drug testing 
to people that do the same type of work we do, we should be drug tested as 
well."

Marcus was frustrated that Masilotti's personal issues are being shifted to 
the entire commission.

"He gets asked a question about him personally, and turns around and throws 
it at the board," she said. "None of us have asked him that question, that 
I know of. We all hear the same rumors. But none of us have started them."

This isn't the first time Masilotti has offered to submit to a test to 
dispel rumors and allegations.

In July, Masilotti voluntarily took a polygraph test in response to 
McCarty's claims that he was illegally benefiting from two homestead 
exemptions, using a South Florida Water Management District helicopter for 
his personal use, and flying to Las Vegas and the Bahamas on a developer's 
private jet without reporting the flights.

He passed the seven-question lie detector test. "That's what it's come down 
to on this commission," Masilotti said at the time. "But I owed it to my 
family, friends and the people who voted for me to do this."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom