Drug Testing Creates Circus

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, September 6, 2008
CASSIE MACDUFF
As political theater, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has been a three-ring circus since July, after the grand jury accused the assessor of politicizing his office.

For raw entertainment value, you couldn't beat all five supervisors taking voluntary drug tests to prove they're clean and sober when nobody had accused them of being on drugs.

Once allegations surfaced that former supervisor/now Assessor Bill Postmus had been in drug rehab twice for methamphetamine addiction, the games were on.

Elected county Treasurer Dick Larsen called for mandatory, random drug testing of all top level county officials. County counsel said that was unconstitutional.

Larsen voluntarily took a drug test himself and declared he had come out clean.

Once he threw down that gauntlet, the supervisors couldn't look like they had anything to cover up. So each one in turn voluntarily took drug tests, too, and reportedly passed with flying colors.

Supervisor-in-waiting Neil Derry, who hasn't even taken office yet, said he'll step up to the specimen bottle, too, because voters deserve proof that the people they elect aren't strung out or stoned.

Meanwhile, Postmus -- the only guy actually accused of being on drugs -- is in hiding.

He left on July 24 for a 10-week medical leave -- nine days after the board summoned him to answer the grand jury's findings at an Aug. 19 meeting.

Has anyone actually asked Postmus to take a drug test? Apparently not.

Board Chairman Paul Biane called on him to publicly refute the allegations of illegal drug use or resign immediately (he did neither). But test for drugs? No.

Too bad, because that's the only thing that will bring down the curtain on this theater of the absurd. Oh well, at least the drug tests didn't cost much, less than $100 for all five supes.

But the drug testing was a sideshow. The more serious questions about whether Postmus orchestrated his staff's political activity on county time remain unanswered.

The grand jury alleged that Postmus created an executive staff of eight whose sole function was to make him look good, and that he took 10 civil-service positions and politicized them by making them at-will.

What's seems to be overlooked is that Postmus' fellow supervisors were his enablers. They gave him the budget to add those eight "executive support staff" positions, and allowed him to revoke the other workers' civil service protection.

I think he owes it to the public to answer the charges that he politicized the office and took illegal drugs. He's using the medical leave as a convenient excuse to avoid doing so.

Well, gee, Ted Kennedy managed to make it to the U.S. Senate in July to cast a crucial vote on Medicare five weeks after having surgery for brain cancer.

Bill Postmus ought to be able to get himself to the Board of Supervisors chambers to answer questions from a friendly audience of people who used to be his best friends.

Nobody seems to know what Postmus' illness is. I think what he's sick of is public scrutiny.

In response to a message from me, Postmus said through a spokesman that he didn't want to comment.

Cassie MacDuff can be reached at cmacduff@PE.com or 909-806-3068.

Doing nothing is not acceptable and it appears that by doing nothing the DA and Board of Supervisors are just as corrupt as Bill Postmus. If he broke the law in any way, investigate and press charges with evidence to back up the charges.

Who's accountable? San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus or the Board of Supervisors?

By Lauren McSherry on August 20, 2008 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the frenzy of government activity since the San Bernardino County grand jury released its report describing how Assessor Bill Postmus used his office for partisan politics and placed unqualified people in executive-level high-paying jobs - as well as the revelation that Postmus is addicted to meth - it seems all too difficult to keep government accountability in the crosshairs.

First, there was the charter amendment approved by the board which, if passed by voters, will give the supervisors more control over the hiring and firing of each other's staff.

Then, on Monday, The Sun reported that most of the supervisors supported drug testing, Yesterday, David Wert, county spokesman confirmed that all of the supervisors had been drug tested and none tested positive for drugs.

In the meantime, Postmus has been on medical leave while receiving his full salary, and yesterday, failed to appear before the board for questioning.

Over the past seven weeks, he has not been had to face any sanctions or repercussions for the misuse of a public office.

Which leads to the question: Should the supervisors be using their time for drug testing or should they be attending to the business of addressing the issue at hand?

Some of the supervisors have said the voters must be the ones to hold Postmus accountable. A recall petition, however, which would require tens of thousands of signatures, a difficult and expensive feat to accomplish in the largest county in the lower 48 states.

But with reports earlier this month that Postmus' drug addiction has spanned years and that even Paul Biane, the chairman of the board, knew about one of Postmus' trips to rehab, it seems possible that other top officials knew as well of Postmus' addiction.

Did others stand by and do nothing as their colleague harmed himself with a horribly addictive drug and possibly neglected his duty to serve the taxpapers of San Bernardino County?

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