Update: The Assembly has called for a robust audit schedule in 2023 and while they are not including any further audits specifically of Joe Gerace’s tenure, they will be auditing grants, including those overseen by him.
An initial look by the municipality’s internal audit department into the record of fraudster and former Anchorage Health Department Director Joe Gerace found sloppy accounting, possible crony hires, and a work environment that was hostile and unprofessional.
Gerace was appointed by Mayor Dave Bronson as Health Department Director in September of 2021. He resigned in August of 2022, after it was discovered by Alaska Public Media that he had fabricated his military experience and educational credentials on his resume.
Tucked away in the agenda for tonight’s Assembly meeting is a memo that identifies possible areas of focus for a full audit of Gerace’s tenure, if the Assembly should decide to pursue one.
The initial probe into Gerace found that he authorized several financial transactions without following the right process for contracts, including a payment of $613,049 to the Aviator Hotel for homelessness services. According to the memo, conversations with Health Department employees did not identify fraud involved in these transactions, but staff “expressed a general sentiment of poor management and a lack of adequate communication.”
The probe also found that in October of 2021, Gerace submitted a request to hire a specific unnamed person through Lemay Engineering and Consulting to act as a contracted Mass Care Site Supervisor. This is noteworthy because the person hired did not provide many details about their qualifications for this position on their resume, and their time consulting for the municipality was not well accounted for.
A random sample of 512 of their working hours found that 439 of these hours were charged to staff meetings and 64 were not charged to anything, so the services they provided are unknown. Lemay billed $41.13 per hour and their employment was discontinued Aug. 15, 2022, about one week after Gerace resigned in disgrace. Lemay is the company that contracted and billed the municipality over $18,000 for work performed by the Tshibaka children over a five-week period.
Additionally, the review noted that Gerace led a hostile work environment, showed a lack of professionalism, and used improper procedures for contract and grant administration. It was also noted that there were allegations of vaccines administered without proper qualifications.
