MACON REVISING DRUG-TESTING PLAN

Macon officials are putting into place new drug-testing guidelines
for employees, a little more than a year after a man was killed in a
car accident involving a city worker who officials said later tested
positive for marijuana and cocaine use.

The revised drug and alcohol policy, which expands the city's ability
to perform random drug tests, will go into effect this week barring
opposition from the City Council. A council committee already has
signaled its acceptance of the plan, which does not require a formal
vote of approval.

Last August, Carlos Dorn, 36, was traveling north on Riverside Drive
as a city truck driven by 50-year-old Hugh Edwards was traveling
southbound. A trailer carrying a lawn mower detached from Edwards'
truck, veered into the northbound lanes and struck Dorn's GMC Jimmy,
killing him instantly, police have said.

Following the accident, Edwards was tested that same day for drugs.
He was fired after officials said he failed the test. Police also
said safety chains had not been used to secure the trailer.

Dorn's family earlier this year filed preliminary paperwork required
to initiate a lawsuit against the city. But instead of suing, they
later settled for $300,000, the limit of Macon's motor vehicle
liability insurance policy, City Attorney Pope Langstaff said. The
city paid the $10,000 deductible on that claim.

"Without saying so, that (accident) is the real reason" behind the
policy change, said Councilman Charles Jones, a member of the
council's Employee Development and Compensation Committee. The city
needs to be more proactive in preventing similar problems in the
future, he said.

Macon's current drug and alcohol policy allows random drug testing
only for police and firefighters. The city also tests new hires and
employees who are involved in accidents while at work.

The new policy extends the city's random testing reach to employees
who drive vehicles that require a commercial driver's license,
employees who operate heavy equipment such as a backhoe or front-end
loader, employees who transport passengers and employees who drive a
vehicle with a trailer attached.

"Actually, it should have been that way in the first place,"
Councilwoman Brenda Youmas said of the new stipulations. Youmas is
chairwoman of the Employee Development Committee. "We're covering all
our bases, particularly in automobile accidents."

She said last year's accident was not the only factor driving the
policy change. Even at that time the city was looking for an update,
she said, but the slow movement of government has meant it's taken
this long to get something done.

Macon's Human Resources Department is compiling a list of city
workers who will fall under the random testing requirements. Those
workers will be given a 60-day notice before they are subject to the
new policy.

Langstaff said because the city is an arm of government,
constitutional constraints on search and seizure prevent it from
testing every employee randomly. The city has charted a conservative
course in deciding who qualifies for random testing based on past
court decisions, he said. Macon likely would test more, as private
companies typically do, if they were allowed to, he said.

"There's been a desire in having this for the city for a while," he
said.