Denver Election Commission executive director John Gaydeski responded to a series of criticisms from City Auditor Dennis Gallagher on Tuesday with a few of his own critiques.
Calling the auditor “unprofessional” and his charges “absurd,” Gaydeski said he believed Gallagher was chiefly concerned with enhancing his image at the Election Commission’s expense.
“I have watched you conduct a media show-and-tell, thinly disguised as a fact-finding meeting at the Election Commission warehouse,” Gaydeski wrote. “And now I am subjected to a continuous stream of letters of ‘concern’ which generally contain magnified distortions of isolated bits of information.”
The letter came in response to three letters Gallagher has sent since Sept. 20.
Gallagher’s letters questioned why the Election Commission did not plan to use recently purchased equipment in the November election, why that equipment was purchased used and accused the commission of trying to “slip” a purchase by the auditor’s office.
“The rather lackadaisical attitude that the Commission is taking with regard to business practices, accountability and expenditures of money of late is of much concern,” Gallagher wrote Oct. 2.
Denver voters head to polls Nov. 7.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
