Monday, April 9, 2007

Profile: Dennis Gallagher (Auditor)

Dennis Gallagher successfully faced off against Bill Wells and others in 2003. 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."
...Dennis J. Gallagher was the last candidate to speak. The former state legislator with a Colorado budget amendment named after him is the term-limited Denver City Council representative for District 1, northwest Denver. He's also a speech communication professor at Regis University.

"I've directed performance audits of state agencies while a state senator," he said, "and I'd like to see the same done for all Denver agencies." He'd also "like to see what can be done" for Denver's neighborhoods and small businesses in city services.

"I remember hearing how the new city office building would feature a 'one-stop shop' for all permits and licenses, but it's not there. As Auditor I could ask why and do something about all the money being wasted."

If elected Auditor, he promised that he would his own car instead of a city vehicle, and he questioned if so many in the city government staff even need vehicles. "Are they racing to some crime scene or a fire in the middle of the night?"

And on top of all that, he said, he's the only member of term-limited city council members in the Auditor's race who will give back to the city 30 percent of his budget.

Denver City Council members have traditionally rolled forward unused funds from year to year, and the tallies for some council members have grown over time.

"I'd have to face any ethical challenges about spending a million dollars before I left office," he concluded. "So just remember the name of Gallagher."

2 comments:

Unknown said...

For the record, you should ask permission before reprinting copyrighted masterial. For the public good, I hereby grant you this one-time permission. next time, please ask first.

(Ken) Judah Freed
Media & Politics Journalist
http://judahfreed.com

Dave Burrell said...

I understand your concerns, but I don't believe permission is required under such circumstances. I am quoting a few paragraphs here from a 1700-word news article regarding a news event more than four years in the past.

Copyright law allows for the use of previously published materials without permission. Such "Fair Use" is formally constrained by just four characteristics:

"1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work."


Again, quoting a few paragraphs on a noncommercial, educational site regarding a news event more than 4 years in the past seems pretty uncontentious. Nevertheless, I'll certainly remain sensitive to your concerns.