Evansville Transparency’s Counterpoint to Poll Topic Tuesday “Drug Testing Of Elected Officials?”

Yesterday the subject of my "Poll Topic Tuesday" was about whether elected officials should be drug tested.  Out of the 500+ of you that weighed in, not one person thinks it's a bad idea as you'll see from a screenshot of the poll.

Here's the thing, though.  I didn't realize how complicated it would be to attempt to pass this resolution.  Now I'm well informed thanks to a Facebook message from the administrator of the Evansville Transparency Facebook page which can be found here.  This is a copy of that message.

Tuesday

Evansville Transparency

9/2, 5:24pm

Evansville Transparency

So, your phone topic tuesday. It is really unfair to say that the Council should have passed that resolution. To say it had no legal teeth is an understatement. I suppose we should pass laws that won't stand up in court and give Ted Ziemer another million dollars defending this in court. This is all clearly just political grandstanding, brought on by the mean girls of council. A law like this needs to be evenly applied to everyone. If the stipulation is that Council is responsible for public money, well, that throws the door open to test all the cronies collecting federal grant money for their personal business projects. The reason these things never happen is because INEVITABLY someone politico will want an exemption for such a crony and that is where these laws are defeated in court. So, it was really bugging me that you are giving this resolution so much undeserved credibility, as if the only thing holding back its passage is the Council wanting to use drugs. When the reality is that is is very flawed legal language, that will cost us a bunch if allowed to follow through. Tell people if they think the council is a bunch of wasted drunks during meetings, then they should come see for themselves.

So, while I don't think I was wrong to bring this up and let you weigh in on my Poll Topic Tuesday, I admit to being somewhat oblivious to how complicated the situation would be to enact drug testing of city officials.  Now I have a better grasp on the reality and the gravity of this undertaking.  If you like to find out what goes on behind the scenes within city government, I encourage you to check out the Evansville Transparency Facebook page.