Pubdate: Wed, 12 May 1999 Source: Daily Times, The (MD) Contact: 410-749-7270 Author: David Suznavick, Special to The Daily Times OCEAN CITY MARYLAND MAY GO TO BAT FOR DRUG TESTING OCEAN CITY- Elected officials here could be hunkering down to oppose a demand by the American Civil Liberties Union that the town change its drug testing policy for prospective employees. That possibility arose this week in response to an April 8 letter from ACLU attorney Deborah Jeon asking officials to end the city's 10-year policy of requiring job applicants to submit to drug testing. In the letter to Mayor Jim Mathias, Jeon told elected officials about Chandler vs. Miller, a two-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the court struck down a Georgia statute requiring those in public office to undergo drug testing as a precondition of employment. Jeon also warned officials that "the ACLU is willing to take whatever action is necessary to address the problem," but said she hoped legal action would not be necessary. In a letter responding to the ACLU's demand that the town end a similar practice, Town Solicitor Guy Ayres told Jeon that officials here plan to review the policy, but set no timetable for doing so and made no commitment to change. Asked when the council would address the issue more fully, Councilman Glenn Steckman indicated discussion of he subject might be at an end. "I don't know if we're going to have any more response to it," Steckman said Tuesday. "I don't know if our drug testing policy is incorrect. I basically support it .... I think the town should be able to test just like the private sector. If the private sector is allowed to do it, why not the public sector?" "That's easy," said Dwight Sullivan, managing counsel for he ACLU's Baltimore office. "Because the U.S. Constitution applies to governments. It does not apply to private businesses." While Steckman made clear his comments were his own and he was not speaking for the elected body, his words closely resemble those of Mathias, who indicated last month he too favors the current policy. Mathias has said he is concerned that employees under the influence of drugs or alcohol could put the town at risk if they come into contact with the general public, Although the Supreme Court did not completely rule out drug testing for all employees, in Chandler vs. Miller the justices said governments seeking to maintain such an all-encompassing policy would have to show a history of unusually high substance abuse amongst its employee population, something the town cannot do, Ayres said. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck