Are the Bronson administration’s mistakes a sign of corruption or incompetence?

Dave Bronson’s tenure as mayor has been a whirlwind: scandals, lies, incompetence and head-scratchingly poor choices. Bronson and Municipal Supervisor Amy Demboski have prolifically beat the general public over the pinnacle with misdoings to the diploma that it feels regular. Flip off fluoridation of the water? Odd alternative, however OK. Refusing to implement the authorized price range? How’d that work out? There’s a laundry listing.

Few points from the Bronson administration have the gravity of the botched hiring of former Well being Division Director Joe Gerace. In hiring Gerace to run one of many largest and most impactful metropolis departments, the administration did not establish him for the con artist he clearly is.

Bronson missed that, Municipal Supervisor Amy Demboski missed that, and “Chief Human Sources Officer” Niki Tshibaka missed that. They missed that he didn’t even have the 2 masters levels he claimed, and that he isn’t truly a credentialed paramedic. They even missed that he isn’t a member of the Nationwide Guard. In reality, he has been misrepresenting himself for years.

These claims ought to have been straightforward for the administration to fact-check, however when a former worker of Gerace’s questioned the purported work historical past, Tshibaka known as it “assassination” of Gerace’s “sterling character.”

We all know all this due to the excellent reporting from Lex Treinen of Alaska Public Media and Curtis Gilbert of American Public Media, who spent weeks doing what Tshibaka is paid tax {dollars} to do: fact-checking Gerace’s resume.

Not solely did Dave Bronson rent a con artist, he employed one so predictably dangerous at his job that they bungled the Bronson administration COVID-19 response, which resulted in shutting down testing websites and in any other case pretending the pandemic didn’t exist. Individuals died due to this. He additionally oversaw the homelessness response, which consisted of shutting down the Sullivan Enviornment and busing individuals to a campground in bear nation with none companies. The campground, miles from routine companies, continues to be a nightmare. A girl went into labor there lately. Simply this week, one other individual died.

Some say the Anchorage Meeting dropped the ball as a result of we voted 7-3 to substantiate Gerace as Well being Division director regardless of credible testimony in opposition. I voted to substantiate him partly due to the browbeaten narrative that the Meeting’s sole goal was to spitefully stonewall all Mayor Bronson’s targets. I additionally voted sure as a result of I wrongly assumed that the data offered to the Meeting by Bronson and Tshibaka was correct. That gained’t occur once more.

The Gerace scandal is stunning, however if you step again, it’s clear that considered one of two issues occurred. Both Bronson and Tshibaka knew Gerace was inflating his credentials however didn’t care, or Dave Bronson’s self-styled “Chief Human Sources Officer” Tshibaka did not do probably the most primary of background checks. Corruption or incompetence.

And what’s their proposed treatment? Investigating themselves. Actually?

Nicely, relaxation assured, I will probably be much more vigilant from right here on out. I’ll scrutinize Mayor Bronson’s choices with renewed vigor, as a result of it’s now abundantly clear, almost half manner by his time period in workplace, he and his administration can’t be trusted to work on behalf of Anchorage residents.

Christopher Fixed is the vice-chair of the Anchorage Meeting.

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