Niki Tshibaka should resign or be fired. As the head of the Municipality of Anchorage Human Resources Department, he failed miserably in performing any minimal vetting of Joe Gerace before he was appointed a head of the MOA Health Department. Then, despite multiple accusations against Gerace made by former colleagues, Mr. Tshibaka publicly attacked the former colleagues by accusing them of making false statements and engaging in character assassination.
No reasonable employer would continue to employ someone who was so negligent in failing to perform even the most elementary background check. Despite this, Mayor Dave Bronson says the public should not worry because his administration, lead by the Human Resources Department (i.e., Tshibaka), will review the traditional hiring process in order to ensure every candidate is “fully vetted.”
Given Tshibaka’s obvious shortcomings thus far, this plan offers little basis for comfort — the Assembly should perform an independent review.
— Brad Owens
Anchorage
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