Council action enables
random drug testing
By tara petersen
Staff Writer
MILLTOWN — Borough workers will now be subject to random drug and alcohol testing.
The Borough Council voted unanimously Monday night to require the random testing for all municipal employees. Officials said the new ordinance is a proactive step, and is not a sign that there has been negative behavior on the part of municipal employees.
"Our employees have the utmost integrity. This should not be looked at as a punishment. We are taking a proactive approach," Council President Gerald Cappella said.
Cappella said that some people have unfairly accused the borough of having inherent problems.
"Incidents have been few and far between," he said. "We’ve been working on this [ordinance] for a year and a half. [Back then] we decided we were going to develop a policy for a drug- and alcohol-free workplace."
Cappella said that there were weaknesses in the policy that needed changing.
Mayor Gloria Bradford agreed.
"We don’t have a drug-infested work force. [The ordinance] is designed to ensure the safety of the borough employees and the people of Milltown," Bradford said.
The borough, which employs a total of 90 to 100 people, already required random testing of employees whose jobs fall into a "safety sensitive function," such as those who operate commercial vehicles.
Cappella also said that he does not understand why a few people have said the ordinance is illegal and is a violation of one’s privacy. He cited Bernards and Fanwood townships, in Somerset and Union counties, respectively, as having similar policies in place.
"The ordinance was written by our attorney and modeled after an ordinance put out by the [state] League of Municipalities," Cappella said. "I’m sure our attorney isn’t going to introduce an illegal ordinance and have it subject to court challenges."
Cappella also refuted the argument that the testing reveals private information.
"The testing is run through the joint insurance program. It’s done strictly by social security number. No information is provided [to supervisors] unless there is a suspect sample," Cappella said.
"It’s not like some borough official pulls aside a worker," he added.
"It’s a step forward. Sometimes positive things aren’t popular. We’re not here to be popular, and we are willing to get tested ourselves," Bradford said.
Deborah Kole, of the League of Municipalities, said there are towns that require random drug testing for all employees, but that it doesn’t mean such policies are legal.
"All I can say is that [random testing] is in place. Perhaps if the ordinances were challenged, they may have problems [holding up in court]," Kole said.
The League’s disclaimer reads, "[The model ordinances] do not necessarily carry the League’s endorsement and we cannot attest to their legality."
Milltown’s drug testing will be run by the Middlesex County Joint Insurance Fund, which will be responsible for deciding on the time, frequency and number of employees to be tested.
The ordinance states that testing is performed at a borough-approved laboratory, where the urine sample is split into two samples so that a stored spare sample is available for re-testing if the employee should challenge the results.

