Pubdate: Sun, 13 Apr 2014
Source: Salem News (OH)
Copyright: 2014 Salem News
Contact:  http://salemnews.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4051
Author: Tom Giambroni , Staff Writer

CANDIDATE SUPPORTS DRUG TESTING FOR ALL RUNNING

LISBON - A Salem man running for county commissioner believes
candidates should be drug-tested, and he wants to start with himself,
his immediate opponent and would-be opponent.

"In most jobs and many schools, drug testing is mandatory. It is time
we held our public officials to this same standard," Nathan Walker
said, in a news release issued last week.

Walker is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Columbiana County
commissioner seat held by Republican Mike Halleck. Dan Bailey is his
opponent in the Democratic primary election on May 6.

"It blows my mind that to work at a gas station you need to take a
drug test, but a county commissioner handling millions of dollars and
making decisions that affect over a hundred thousand people does not
have to be held to the same standard," he continued.

Walker believes all politicians should volunteer to be tested, but
testing positive should not necessarily be an automatic
disqualification for seeking office, leaving that decision to voters.
He said he is already tested as a condition of his employment as a
chef for AVI Food Systems.

Walker said he would take the lead in getting tested and submitting
the results to the local news media, challenging Bailey and Halleck to
do likewise. "If Bailey, Halleck and I all get tested we are sending a
good message to the community," he said, in his news release.

Bailey chuckled when told of Walker's suggestion. "If he's paying for
it, I'm down for that," he said. "To be honest, I do find it humorous."

Halleck described the request as "bizarre and outrageous," especially
considering it has nothing to do with any county issues. Halleck, who
was subject to drug tests while employed in a previous job, said
should Walker win the Democratic primary "I will be more than happy to
engage in whatever issues he feels he wants to discuss."

Walker was asked by the newspaper whether, in issuing the news
release, if he was insinuating that either Bailey or Halleck used
drugs. "I don't think so and I hope not, but I want to be a leader and
I think we should lead by example," he said.

Halleck, in his own news release, brought up Walker's 2007 conviction
for urinating in public, calling on the county Democrat Party to
"refute his candidacy in lieu of not only his bizarre behavior in this
matter, but the recent revelation that he was convicted of public indecency."

Walker said there is nothing "bizarre" about wanting to hold public
officials to the same standards as many others. "As for being
'bizarre,' how can it be if everyone is calling for drug testing for
welfare" recipients and yet others receiving taxpayer dollars are not
subject to the same requirements, he said.

Halleck went on to call Walker's candidacy "an embarrassment to our
political process," saying it is common knowledge in political circles
that his "mentor" is "disgraced" ex-county recorder Craig Brown.

"Mr. Walker would be well served to present himself in his own words
and stop being used by someone who is only interested in blaming
others for his own demise," Halleck said, in his new release.

Walker said he and Brown have been friends since high school, and he
is serving as an unofficial advisor to his campaign. "Yes, in the past
he's had his problems ... but I'm just asking him for his advice,"
Walker said of Brown.

As for the press release suggesting drug testing, or the other
releases issued by his campaign, Walker said, "Everything has been my
idea."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D