MASILOTTI'S QUEST FOR DRUG TESTS SPLITS COLLEAGUES

With his performance and behavior as county commission chairman in
question, Tony Masilotti has offered to take a drug test to prove he's not
impaired -; and is calling for all commissioners to do the same.

Masilotti has requested that County Administrator Bob Weisman ask
commissioners whether they would agree to undergo random drug and alcohol
screenings twice a year. But the notion has left some even more bewildered
about the chairman's behavior.

Masilotti's colleagues raised concerns about his performance in a story
published Sunday in The Palm Beach Post. Some suggested Masilotti
relinquish his 7-month-old chairmanship if his marital and health problems
were getting in the way.

Masilotti's drug-screening proposal was met with a "no comment" from
Commissioner Jeff Koons. But Commissioner Addie Greene was outraged.

"I wouldn't vote for anything as asinine and ludicrous as that," she said.
"We're making a mockery of ourselves."

County Commissioner Karen Marcus, while having no problem with taking a
drug test, said she saw Masilotti's move as an attack.

"When you're chairman, you don't just sort of attack your own board," she said.

Masilotti said this is an opportunity for the commission to set an example.

"Lots of times people in high places preach to others about doing the right
thing," he said. "I think we need to set an example for the youngsters in
the county to show that we don't just talk about it, that's the way we live
our lives."

Masilotti sent his proposal to Weisman late Friday, just hours after he was
interviewed by The Post about his absences from the dais.

Masilotti was apologetic, saying he has had four surgeries since injuring
his back while riding dirt bikes last November. "It has been a tough year
for me," he said. "Now that they're completed I expect to be at all the
meetings for the next two years."

During Friday's interview, Masilotti was told what other commissioners said
about his performance. He also was asked about persistent rumors that the
painkillers prescribed for his back injury may have affected his ability to
lead the commission.

He flatly rejected the claim and offered to take a confidential drug test
to prove it. The Post declined.

Later Friday, he faxed his drug-screening proposal to Weisman: "Considering
a number of Palm Beach County employees are subject to random drug and
alcohol testing, I recommend the same random testing for our board members
as we certainly want to hold ourselves to the same high standards."

He suggested that the commission discuss the idea at a meeting in July. "I
think they'll be very supportive of it," Masilotti said of the other
commissioners.

Commissioner Mary McCarty said commissioners shouldn't wait.

"If the chairman wants to drag the whole board into this issue, then why
would he want to wait until July?"

But before commissioners consider subjecting themselves to testing, McCarty
said, Masilotti should consider making his medical records public.

"Since his behavior is what is in question, he should make his medical
records available to the public," McCarty said Sunday. "And they should
start with pink eye from last week, and then go into the four back
surgeries he's said he's had."

McCarty said if Masilotti releases his medical records this morning, she'll
join him in taking a drug and alcohol test today.

Since the 1980s, when then-President Ronald Reagan launched his "Just Say
No" war on drugs, testing has become a routine measure for corporations and
government but a rare requirement for elected officials.

Weisman said county policy requires only employees who are in
"safety-sensitive positions" to agree to random drug and alcohol testing.
Such positions include drivers and those dealing with hazardous materials.
The employees are picked randomly and are told in advance they are subject
to the screening, he said.

Requiring random drug screenings for non-safety-related positions has been
legally challenged across the country because opponents argue it's an
invasion of privacy.

Nevertheless, calls for random drug screenings continue to be made. In
January, a New Mexico legislator called for yearly random drug testing of
the state's 1,500 elected officials, from the state's U.S. senators to
local school board members.

Hialeah in Miami-Dade County has a decade-old rule that allows elected
officials to be tested randomly for drugs. Newly elected council members
and the mayor have one week to take a test after they take office.

Told about Masilotti's proposal, Commissioner Burt Aaronson said: "We
should be held to the same standard as anybody else. If we do drug testing
to people that do the same type of work we do, we should be drug tested as
well."

Marcus was frustrated that Masilotti's personal issues are being shifted to
the entire commission.

"He gets asked a question about him personally, and turns around and throws
it at the board," she said. "None of us have asked him that question, that
I know of. We all hear the same rumors. But none of us have started them."

This isn't the first time Masilotti has offered to submit to a test to
dispel rumors and allegations.

In July, Masilotti voluntarily took a polygraph test in response to
McCarty's claims that he was illegally benefiting from two homestead
exemptions, using a South Florida Water Management District helicopter for
his personal use, and flying to Las Vegas and the Bahamas on a developer's
private jet without reporting the flights.

He passed the seven-question lie detector test. "That's what it's come down
to on this commission," Masilotti said at the time. "But I owed it to my
family, friends and the people who voted for me to do this."