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A Big I-Team investigation holds the powerful accountable. A top-level state worker caught wasting time and tax dollars when she thought no one was watching.

For years, the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing has had a hard time keeping up with all the work. The agency that licenses hundreds of thousands of professionals, handles complaints, and oversees enforcement still battles with backlogs. That's why you'd think Deputy Secretary Barbara Wyatt-Sibley, who runs the DRL's day to day, would have more than enough on her plate to stay busy.

Sibley works full days in her Madison office, but she lives in Milwaukee. In 2007, nine months after she got the job, she got permission to work from home one day a week.

In June of this year, DRL let her up that to two days. All that telecommuting worries public administrations experts like UWM'S Mordecai Lee.

"If you can't poke your head in the door to your supervisor, to the person who's running the agency on a day-to-day basis, and say, 'Hey, I've got a problem. Let's quickly solve it. I need 15 seconds of your time,' if you can't have that, then public administration doesn't work the way it's supposed to," Lee explained.

The DRL says Sibley works from home for medical reasons. However, on June 2nd, just two days into her new schedule, I-Team cameras caught Sibley leaving her home office at 11:30 a.m. She drove to Wauwatosa, picked up a friend, then headed to the ritzy Western Racquet Club in Elm Grove, where she stayed for more than two hours. From there, she went shopping at Mayfair Mall for nearly another hour -- even looking for deals on shoes at Macy's. Sibley didn't come home to work until 3:30 that afternoon, four hours after she left.

Two days later, on June 4th, Sibley took off again, this time around 12:30 p.m., and spent the next two hours getting her hair done at a north side salon. Then, on June 16th, she spent two hours going to lunch and had custard at Kopp's.

"You can't have a situation where you have somebody who's in the public service, who's being paid for by the taxpayers, and who works, sort of, whenever they want to," Lee argued.

Making matters worse, Sibley's timecards show she billed taxpayers for a full day on all three of those days with no personal time.

We tried for weeks to schedule a proper interview with Sibley her at her Madison office. The I-Team wanted a chance to lay everything on the table and give Sibley an opportunity to respond. We were turned down flat and had to go to plan B, an unscheduled interview as she arrived home last week.

Here is the conversation we had with Sibley as she hurried into her husband's waiting Escalade.

Reporter: "Can we speak to you before you close the door? I apologize for bothering you when you come home from work."

Sibley: "I'm on my way to church, so if you can call me in the office tomorrow, I'll be more than happy..."

Reporter: "I spoke to [your communications director] who mentioned we weren't able to speak to you there, so I'm hoping to catch you for a minute to speak to you about some of your time here in Milwaukee."

Sibley: "This is my personal time, right?"

Reporter: "I understand. I understand this is your personal time."

Despite the irony, the I-Team kept pushing for answers.

Reporter: "The questions we had had to do with what looked like the personal time you're taking while on business hours. Can we ask you about some of that?"

Sibley: "You said you'd call my office tomorrow, right?"

Reporter: "I will. Will you speak to us at that time?"

Sibley: "I will confer with my boss and the Governor's office and go from there."

That's when Sibley slammed the Escalade's door. Remember, this is one of the state's most senior managers with a six-figure salary. Her boss, DRL Secretary Celia Jackson, refused to answer our questions, too.

Jackson did send a written statement saying in part, "I have asked her to review her time records and take the appropriate leave time for any hours not worked. It is important for all us as state employees to be accountable to the citizens of Wisconsin.

"[Sibley] has expressed her apologies to the agency and to the administration for her actions," the statement read.

Maybe most concerning, the source who tipped us off to Sibley's schedule said this has been going on for quite a while. We only had to check up on Sibley in Milwaukee four times in June to see these three examples.
 

Click here to read DRL Secretary Celia Jackson entire response to our investigation.

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