Judge orders release of city records on former Anchorage health department director, despite potential embarrassment

An Alaska Superior Court judge issued a ruling on Thursday in response to an appeal from the Anchorage Assembly, which sought to make public two documents from an internal city investigation into the hiring of a former Health department director. The judge’s decision was a split one, with one document being protected under attorney-client privilege and the other deemed not protected from public disclosure.

The former health department director in question, Joe Gerace, resigned in 2022 after an investigation revealed that he had fabricated or exaggerated parts of his resume. Mayor Dave Bronson declined to release the internal investigation documents on Gerace, citing protection under city code and employees’ privacy rights.

The Assembly took the matter to court, seeking to compel the administration to make the reports public. The court’s ruling determined that one of the documents did not involve information normally protected, such as payroll or medical files, and releasing it would not constitute an invasion of privacy.

However, the other document was deemed to be a confidential attorney-client communication protected by the attorney-client privilege. The administration and the Assembly have 10 days to file a motion for reconsideration of the judge’s decision, which will ultimately determine if either record must be unsealed.

Assembly Chair Christopher Constant called for the immediate release of both records in a statement following the court’s decision. The mayor’s office declined to comment on the ruling, stating that they are still reviewing the decision.

The decision is a significant development in the ongoing efforts to bring transparency and accountability to public leaders, and the outcome of any further appeals will determine whether the records will ultimately be made public. This ruling reflects the ongoing efforts to uphold the citizens’ right to know and shed light on the functioning of their government.

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