Sassing at Treasury

What!?!?  You mean if you elect a complete neophyte with a flaky record you get a complete incompetent dunce?  Whodathunk?

As the state treasurer’s office tried to eliminate the biggest backlog of unclaimed property requests in at least a decade, state Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass headed to California.

Sass spent much of last week at the posh St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, Calif., for the National Association of State Treasurers annual meeting. In addition to attending informational sessions and giving a talk on Wisconsin’s unclaimed property program, Sass went on a two-hour sea-life cruise.

Sass did not disclose on her state ethics statements that she attended similar corporate-funded conferences in 2007 and 2008. The state’s ethics enforcement agency said it was unclear whether the travel needed to be disclosed, although such disclosure is generally required under state law.

The trip comes at a time when Sass’ office is rife with tension over the hiring of her niece and other family members for temporary jobs, as well as a wave of job vacancies for permanent positions. The niece spent some of her five-week stint on the job traveling with the treasurer, even though she was supposed to be processing claims and working at the office’s front desk.

As Sass traveled to California, her aides tried to dig the office out from under a backlog that reached about 2,900 claims for property.

The problem is exacerbated by five vacancies in the 15-person office - some of which occurred after Sass sparred with employees.