The Anchorage Assembly has filed an appeal with Alaska Superior Court to try to get its hands on personnel documents that relate to the short duration of the employment of former Health Department Director Joe Gerace.
Gerace was found to have falsified his resume and ended up resigning after suffering a stroke. Mayor Dave Bronson has maintained that Gerace’s personnel record is confidential, as are the records of all employees of the city.
On Feb. 14, the Assembly leaders asked for two documents from the internal Human Resources investigation into Gerace. Those were denied, again because of confidentiality laws and rules around personnel files.
The Assembly wants the court to determine if an employee’s personnel files are indeed confidential, or if they can be accessed by political adversaries of the mayor.
The Assembly’s appeal argues that Bronson’s denial order incorrectly asserts that the requested records are personnel files that cannot be disclosed under the Anchorage Municipal Code.
The Assembly says Bronson’s denial order incorrectly asserts that the requested records are exempt from disclosure by the Anchorage Municipal Code.
The Assembly is saying that any personnel record must be released to it upon its demand.
After both sides have presented their arguments, the court will render its decision.
