Biography
Dennis Gallagher was born and raised in North Denver. His dad, Bill Gallagher Jr. was a Denver firefighter for almost 40 years. His mother, Nellie Flaherty, was born, on what is now the Auraria Campus, on the day Buffalo Bill died, June 10, 1917.
Dennis attended Holy Family School in North Denver for 12 years, graduating and then attending Regis College where he majored in English literature with minors in Latin and Greek. "It was at Regis, that I gained my love of Shakespeare and classical learning." "I love Shakespeare and I like quoting him; his words remain relevant to our own circumstances today." To help work his way through school, Dennis worked with Local 7 the International Association of Stage and Theatrical Employees, Local 7 in Denver. Dennis then attended graduate school at Catholic University of America.
Gallagher has taught since 1967 at Regis University in Speech and Classics and Media. With his election as Auditor in 2003, Gallagher, now professor emeritus, has retired from Regis. Gallagher was elected to the Colorado House in 1970 and served 4 years. He then served for 20 years in the Colorado Senate. Gallagher is remembered for his advocacy for senior and victims rights issues, but especially for the "Gallagher Amendment" which has saved billions of dollars for Colorado residential tax payers.
Dennis served two terms on the Denver City Council before serving as Auditor. Dennis has reorganized the Auditor’s Office, streamlining departments, establishing an independent audit committee, and instituting performance audits at the city. He has also implemented a ‘paperless’ process for all the office’s functions. "We are saving the taxpayers lots of money by not using paper. The digital audit trails are working just fine and the audit work papers are very secure." Gallagher stated.
In May of 2008, the Association of Government Accountants of Denver gave Dennis the Community Leadership Award for his work in establishing an independent audit committee and asking for the highest in ethical standards of staff at Denver’s Auditor’s Office.