Reiterating that this year's election campaign is taking precedence over absolutely everything, many Wisconsin state Assembly workers have taken leaves of absence from the Capitol to campaign for their candidates of choice. With the state Legislature being out of session, this time of year is perfect for workers to go out and lend their support on the campaign trail.
State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who currently has two staff workers on leave for campaigns, was recently angered when Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, fired one of the replacement workers Pocan hired to help him while his regular staff campaigned. Pocan said he believes the firing was politically motivated and has begun directing calls and questions from his constituents to Gard's office.
\If John Gard is hellbent to punish me for being an outspoken legislator and will violate his own rules to see that he calls the shots in my office, then fine. I will direct anyone who would be contacting my office to contact his office instead for staffing assistance,"" Pocan said.
Gard's spokesperson Steve Bass stated there is currently a hiring freeze in place for the Assembly, and any person wishing to hire new staff members must first receive permission from Gard. Bass adamantly maintained no one had been fired.
""The hiring freeze requires any new [workers] to be specifically authorized by the speaker. The speaker never authorized the hiring of that staffer,"" Bass said. ""Pocan knew that he hadn't received authorization and went ahead anyway, and unfortunately put that staffer in an awkward position when the clerk's office had to enforce the rule. We didn't fire anyone.""
Bass said he believed Pocan was looking for preferential treatment so he could send his staffers out to campaign and still have staff in the office.
Gov. Jim Doyle's Press Secretary Melanie Fonder responded to the idea of workers taking leaves of absence by saying, ""As long as constituent concerns are being handled, and as long as the daily operations aren't being affected in any way, then it's OK.""
When asked if the firing was politically motivated, Bass offered sharp criticism of Pocan.
""He likes to make these partisan attacks,"" he said. ""That's what he does. He's the yapping dog of the partisan left. He was angry he couldn't get special treatment, so he figured if he whined loud enough, someone would give him attention.\
