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Three New Port Richey public works supervisors are to be interviewed after
police dogs find the scent of marijuana in their work area.
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Three of the top supervisors in the public works
department are among the employees that City Manager Gerald Seeber says he
intends to interview as the investigation into alleged drug use continues.
Police drug-sniffing dogs found the scent of marijuana in the desk of the
Director of Public Works Tom O'Neill and in the city-owned Jeep he uses.
The dogs also found the scent of drugs on the desk drawer of collection
superintendent Avery Short, and on a file cabinet in the office Short
shares with section leader John Price.
This is the latest development in an investigation that began four months
ago after citizens called the police department and Mayor Wendy Brenner,
New Port Richey police and dogs from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office went
to the Pine Hill Road public works complex Jan. 10.
According to a New Port Richey police report completed and given to Seeber
on Friday, police dogs found the scent of marijuana in the work area of the
three top department officials, and on six other city-owned vehicles used
by 11 department employees. Traces of the drug were found on two of those
vehicles.
O'Neill, 47, a city employee for 26 years, on Monday told the Times that he
had not seen the report, and referred all questions to Seeber. Price, 55, a
city employee for 34 years, did not return calls seeking comment.
Short, who has worked for the department for 35 years, says that he does
not know how the scent of drugs got on his desk.
"I was dumbfounded to find out that there was a drug scent there," said
Short, 58. "There are a lot of people who come and go through the office. I
thought that (the city) would do a drug test; that way everyone will know
up front who is a user, whether it be me or the next fellow."
Short says that he thought that the drug tests were scheduled immediately
after the police came to the Pine Hill Road complex, and were canceled.
During the investigation, police learned that Pinellas County had an arrest
warrant for a water lineman, James Smoak. Police also found that Leonard
Reeves, an equipment operator, had marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his
possession. Both employees were arrested and posted bail.
Reeves was terminated Monday. Smoak still is employed by the city. He and
another employee drive one of the two vehicles in which traces of marijuana
were found.
Seeber says that he intends to interview employees.
"I haven't talked to the employees, but I will be," Seeber said. "Once I've
had an opportunity to do some fact finding, I'll determine what, if
anything, will be undertaken by the city. We want to be sure that our
people are operating in a safe manner. The city will take whatever steps
are necessary to ensure that that happens."
According to the report, citizens first called New Port Richey police about
four months ago saying that they had seen public works employees using
marijuana at the city's water-pumping stations. The police investigated,
but got "negative results," the report said. The police restarted the
investigation in January when they received more calls from citizens with
the same allegations.
New Port Richey has a drug-free workforce policy under the Florida Workers'
Compensation Act. The policy states that employees must submit to alcohol
or drug tests if reasonable suspicion exists to indicate that their ability
to work is impaired. The city also can conduct drug tests if there is
direct observation of drug use at work. The city enjoys a 5-percent
discount on its workers' compensation insurance rates for having and
enforcing this drug-free policy.
Still, no drug tests have been conducted, Seeber said.
"I'm not sure that I have sufficient evidence to do that," Seeber said.
"I'll be consulting legal counsel."
As a result of the investigation, Seeber says that he has been working with
city attorney about changing policy so that the city could confront
problems like this earlier. Seeber said that the current policy was created
five years ago and it needs to be updated.
Mayor Brenner said that the city is "walking a fine line at this point."
"Since we didn't have the police report, we had to be very careful," she
said. "We don't want to violate anybody's rights or get the city into any
kind of problems. It's just a matter of determining exactly what kind of
action we will take."
Brenner said that she was also told that drug tests were scheduled, then
canceled once the police directed the city to wait until its criminal
investigation was complete before it acted.
"I'm very impatient about how slow the wheels of government turn, " she
said. ". . . There's a little frustration on my part, but we'll eventually
get to the bottom of it. We're headed in the right direction."
- Staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Newshawk: M & M Family
Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2001 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: letters@sptimes.com
Address: 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Website: https://www.sptimes.com/
Forum: https://www.sptimes.com/Forums/ubb/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi
Author: Jennifer Goldblatt
police dogs find the scent of marijuana in their work area.
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Three of the top supervisors in the public works
department are among the employees that City Manager Gerald Seeber says he
intends to interview as the investigation into alleged drug use continues.
Police drug-sniffing dogs found the scent of marijuana in the desk of the
Director of Public Works Tom O'Neill and in the city-owned Jeep he uses.
The dogs also found the scent of drugs on the desk drawer of collection
superintendent Avery Short, and on a file cabinet in the office Short
shares with section leader John Price.
This is the latest development in an investigation that began four months
ago after citizens called the police department and Mayor Wendy Brenner,
New Port Richey police and dogs from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office went
to the Pine Hill Road public works complex Jan. 10.
According to a New Port Richey police report completed and given to Seeber
on Friday, police dogs found the scent of marijuana in the work area of the
three top department officials, and on six other city-owned vehicles used
by 11 department employees. Traces of the drug were found on two of those
vehicles.
O'Neill, 47, a city employee for 26 years, on Monday told the Times that he
had not seen the report, and referred all questions to Seeber. Price, 55, a
city employee for 34 years, did not return calls seeking comment.
Short, who has worked for the department for 35 years, says that he does
not know how the scent of drugs got on his desk.
"I was dumbfounded to find out that there was a drug scent there," said
Short, 58. "There are a lot of people who come and go through the office. I
thought that (the city) would do a drug test; that way everyone will know
up front who is a user, whether it be me or the next fellow."
Short says that he thought that the drug tests were scheduled immediately
after the police came to the Pine Hill Road complex, and were canceled.
During the investigation, police learned that Pinellas County had an arrest
warrant for a water lineman, James Smoak. Police also found that Leonard
Reeves, an equipment operator, had marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his
possession. Both employees were arrested and posted bail.
Reeves was terminated Monday. Smoak still is employed by the city. He and
another employee drive one of the two vehicles in which traces of marijuana
were found.
Seeber says that he intends to interview employees.
"I haven't talked to the employees, but I will be," Seeber said. "Once I've
had an opportunity to do some fact finding, I'll determine what, if
anything, will be undertaken by the city. We want to be sure that our
people are operating in a safe manner. The city will take whatever steps
are necessary to ensure that that happens."
According to the report, citizens first called New Port Richey police about
four months ago saying that they had seen public works employees using
marijuana at the city's water-pumping stations. The police investigated,
but got "negative results," the report said. The police restarted the
investigation in January when they received more calls from citizens with
the same allegations.
New Port Richey has a drug-free workforce policy under the Florida Workers'
Compensation Act. The policy states that employees must submit to alcohol
or drug tests if reasonable suspicion exists to indicate that their ability
to work is impaired. The city also can conduct drug tests if there is
direct observation of drug use at work. The city enjoys a 5-percent
discount on its workers' compensation insurance rates for having and
enforcing this drug-free policy.
Still, no drug tests have been conducted, Seeber said.
"I'm not sure that I have sufficient evidence to do that," Seeber said.
"I'll be consulting legal counsel."
As a result of the investigation, Seeber says that he has been working with
city attorney about changing policy so that the city could confront
problems like this earlier. Seeber said that the current policy was created
five years ago and it needs to be updated.
Mayor Brenner said that the city is "walking a fine line at this point."
"Since we didn't have the police report, we had to be very careful," she
said. "We don't want to violate anybody's rights or get the city into any
kind of problems. It's just a matter of determining exactly what kind of
action we will take."
Brenner said that she was also told that drug tests were scheduled, then
canceled once the police directed the city to wait until its criminal
investigation was complete before it acted.
"I'm very impatient about how slow the wheels of government turn, " she
said. ". . . There's a little frustration on my part, but we'll eventually
get to the bottom of it. We're headed in the right direction."
- Staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Newshawk: M & M Family
Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2001 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: letters@sptimes.com
Address: 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Website: https://www.sptimes.com/
Forum: https://www.sptimes.com/Forums/ubb/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi
Author: Jennifer Goldblatt
