Anchorage Mayor Joe Geres said he is investigating the hiring of former health director.

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson says his administration has launched an investigation into how the former health director failed to obtain false credentials.

Joe Geres resigned as director of the Anchorage Health Department after Alaska Public Media cited health concerns. faced He backed it up with evidence that the resume he used to get the job was fabricated.

Related: The director of the Anchorage Health Department has been removed from office following an investigation into the creative process

Bronson’s statement about the investigation came a day after Alaska Public Media and American Public Media published a story about how Gehres falsified his credentials and military history to get the city’s health director job.

“After hearing the shocking news about Joe Gerres yesterday, I immediately assigned the City Manager’s Office and Department of Human Resources to investigate the hiring of former Anchorage Health Director Joe Gerres,” Bronson’s statement on Tuesday said. “I expect a thorough and thorough investigation into this matter and the hiring practices going forward.

Bronson’s statement from the day before was reversed. On Monday, Bronson spokesman Corey Allen Young told Alaska Public Media in a phone call that the city did not have enough time to respond to questions about Geres’ testimony and that some of the information presented was untrue. In a statement announcing Gerres’ resignation Monday afternoon, the mayor praised Gerres as hardworking and diligent.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, City Manager Amy Demboski said the city wants new employees to contact former employers and colleges to verify credentials. She said that the department will also check the educational credentials of the employees hired since the administration came into operation.

“We’re going to go back and check everything again,” she said.

Assembly members who voted to confirm Geras said Tuesday they felt lied to during last year’s confirmation process. They said they have taken action based on the information. They were given Testimonies about Geres at the time. West Anchorage Assemblyman Cameron Perez-Verdia, who voted to confirm Gerasse, said the Bronson administration must answer questions about what it knows or risk losing public trust.

“You’re going to start asking for this, not just one hire, but many hires, aren’t you?” Perez-Verdia said in a telephone interview. “You think the administration has done the background checks and degree verification that most people have proposed to verify.

Perez-Verdia appears in meetings as though Gerres is incompetent.

“He repeatedly told us things that weren’t true, he wasn’t prepared, he was in over his head,” Perez-Verdia said.

Another assembly member, Forrest Dunbar of East Anchorage, also said he regrets his vote to confirm Geres last year. Dunbar narrowly lost to Bronson in the mayoral race. He pointed the finger at one person in particular.

“I think we need to hear more about how people in general are investigated and how this error was discovered,” he said.

He said he was concerned that the human resources director was conducting an independent investigation into the city’s hiring practices. Tshibaka was fired while investigating alleged offensive comments by the former head of the Office of Equal Opportunity, Acting City Library Director Judy Elledge. After the shooting, Tshibaka appeared at a public meeting wearing a T-shirt that read “I’m with Judy” on the front.

“I would like to see someone other than Mr. Tshibaka take the lead in this investigation,” Dunbar said.

Council members said they want more information from the Bronson administration to prevent this from happening again. Assembly Vice Speaker Chris Constant said the House Rules Committee will discuss their options on Thursday.

Related: Excerpted from Anchorage Health Director Joe Gerres’ investigation 6