TAKE THE TEST, MAYOR

We offer a simple suggestion for the mayor of Johnston, who police say
was reeking of marijuana when they stopped the car in which he was
riding: Prove your innocence to the voters. Submit a strand of your
hair for drug analysis.

But "why should I take a test when I haven't been accused of
anything?" Mayor William Macera asks. The answer is: because Johnston
residents deserve to be assured that their elected leaders respect the
law, and that their mayor would not ride around in a car with a friend
who was smoking marijuana -- or join in. Mr. Macera is up for
re-election Nov. 7, and his conduct may lead voters to take a closer
look at his ballot foe, George Resnick.

The mayor was a passenger in a car pulled over Tuesday night. Three
officers said he reeked of marijuana and that his eyes appeared watery
and bloodshot. They charged the driver with possession of marijuana,
but did not charge the mayor with anything.

Mr. Macera insists that means that police have proved "there was
obviously no wrongdoing on my part on the evening in question." They
have proved no such thing; they have simply declined to charge him
with anything. But voters should set a higher standard than that.

The police's behavior in all this has been far from ideal. The police
union, engaged in a bitter contract dispute, has made it clear it is
the mayor's political enemy. Union President John Nardolillo demanded
that the mayor either submit to a drug test or resign. That makes
voters wonder whether police are out to get the mayor. In Johnston, it
seems, nothing is ever simple or straightforward. The mayor can clear
up all this by taking the drug test.