Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jan 2008
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2008 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayobserver.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150
Author: Andrew Barksdale
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

PROPOSAL TO DRUG TEST COUNCIL MEMBERS DROPPED

Charles Evans, who broached the unconventional idea just before 
Christmas, now says he lacks the support to push it any further. He 
has pulled discussion of the item from Monday's work session agenda. 
"It would have died," he said Wednesday.

Evans, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who has been clean 
since 2001, said he wanted to squash recent -- and false, he says -- 
rumors that he had lapsed into substance abuse.

He said he would take a drug test any time and anywhere to prove he 
is clean. He wanted to urge the rest of the City Council to 
voluntarily take a urine test, even though there is no law requiring 
an elected official to do so. When Evans floated the idea in an 
e-mail to council members Dec. 20, the reaction was nearly unanimous: 
Drug testing would be unnecessary and create an unwanted distraction 
to city business.

"If he has a problem in trying to clear his name or character, he 
doesn't need to drag anybody else into it," Councilman Keith Bates 
said then. Evans, who is 48, pleaded guilty in 1992 to two counts of 
embezzlement and one count of felony possession of cocaine.

Evans has been open about his past. He was elected in 2005, defeating 
incumbent Mable Smith in District 2, which represents east 
Fayetteville. In a Dec. 20 e-mail, Mayor Tony Chavonne advised Evans 
and the rest of the council against drug testing, calling the matter 
personal. On Wednesday, Chavonne said he had no additional comments 
on Evans' decision to drop the idea.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom