Cal. City Considers Implementing Drug-testing
Kirsten Srinivansan
June 17, 2008
Times
CALUMET CITY — Calumet City officials are looking into the possibility of drug testing city employees and elected officials.
No decision has been made and the discussion is still preliminary, Calumet City attorney Joe Montana said.
He is researching current policies, contracts and what other municipalities have done and plans to report back to the council within a couple of weeks, he said.
"They are going to be seriously looking at it and making sure it's applicable to everybody and comprehensive," he said. "... There are a lot of things to look into. It's not something that's going to be done overnight.
"We want to make sure it's fair and everybody is treated the same," he said.
At a Calumet City meeting last week, 3rd Ward Alderman Thaddeus Jones made the motion for the city attorney to investigate the possibility of drug testing for city employees and officials.
"I think elected officials should set an example," he said.
It's too early to say whether the testing would be random or voluntary, or whether it would apply to union or nonunion workers, Montana said, but officials have indicated that if employees are expected to do it, they should as well.
"A lot of municipalities have drug-testing policies," he said. "Some are contractual and some are in the employee handbook and some are just general policies. Everybody does it a little bit different."
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