Profile: Bill Wells (Auditor)

Folks searching for information on Auditor candidate Bill Wells will have a devil of a time. Mr Wells has no campaign website, his public appearances have been few, and media mentions are rather rare.

He did, however, run for Auditor back in 2003 against Debbie Ortega, Ed Thomas, Landri Taylor, and Dennis Gallagher. Below is an excerpt from The Colorado Statesman written in March 2003 by Ken Freed. The full title is "Auditor Candidates Seeing Red at Neighborhood Forum."

...Bill Wells lowered the mic slightly. With his white hair and black suit, he stood relaxed before the audience, resulting from years of training and leadership in Toastmasters with involvement in Optimists and Rotary and Mensa.

Wells spoke about nine years as a management analyst in the Denver Budget and Management Office, he did not mention additional experiences as the purchasing agent for Arapahoe County.

He's chief concern that night was making sure the audience knew he had done and could do effective performance audits.

He's worked with Denver Health in establishing auditing standards now being adopted nationally. But this is not his only sign of merit.

"I've personally exposed waste in the city fleet," he said. His audit proved that replacing some vehicles would be cheaper than maintaining them. Wells did not mention that he knew about cars from being president and CEO of Smethport Auto and Truck Parts.

"I'm the only candidate who has actually done the job of a city auditor," Wells said.

...Closing statements from the candidates repeated the messages in all but one case. Wells placed a capstone on the forum with his own disclosure.

"I'm the only one here who has never before run for public office or led a political campaign," he said. "I'm the only one here who does not think of the job as a step to higher office."

He paused, looking almost serene for a moment. "Budgets and audits may sound boring to some of you, but the idea of being Denver Auditor has been a passion of mine for a long time. This is my dream. That's the kind of person I am."