MORE DRUG TESTING FOR CITY URGED

Columbus Councilman Larry Upton has suggested the city's random drug
testing policy be broadened to include more employees - and council
members and the mayor.

Upton's comments came Tuesday after the arrest of a city truck driver
on a marijuana possession charge.

Elliott Trimuel, 37, was charged with a single count of possessing
less than an ounce of marijuana. He was released Tuesday on a $300
bond. He is scheduled to appear in Columbus Municipal Court on June
11.

Columbus Police Lt. Tom Thompson said police were told a city worker
had been spotted smoking marijuana on the job. Thompson said a drug
dog was sent to the city barn to check all the vehicles and Trimuel's
truck came under suspicion.

Thompson said officers searched Trimuel and allegedly discovered a
joint and a small bag of marijuana inside Trimuel's wallet.

Upton said the city should adopt an ordinance to require random drug
testing throughout the city.

"I think we should show that we've got a clean administration. All the
councilmen and the mayor should take a drug test just to show how
clean we really are," he said.

City personnel director Linda Moore said more than 190 workers are
already subjected to random drug testing.

City attorney Thomas G. Wallace said he would see if state law allowed
more employees to be randomly tested for drug use.

Wallace said council members are elected officials and as such cannot
be required to take a drug test, he said.

Mayor Jeffrey Rupp said Wednesday that Trimuel and another city worker
who worked out of the same truck had been suspended without pay until
the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.