Silicon Valley Gets Short End of Stimulus Stick

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has had trouble paying his taxes and likes to travel in expensive style, but was at the city council crowing about $23 million in Federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to the town on Tuesday, and promised more on the way.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom couldn't keep his private parts away from his friend's wife, but San Francisco County can tout $420 million in total stimulus spending.

Santa Clara county, with over twice the population, however, only took home $470 million, with $79 million going to San Jose -- leading their mayor Chuck Reed complaining to the feds on a recent swing back east.

But hey, at least Reed has managed to keep his name out of any scandalous headlines -- something former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales couldn't accomplish -- so Reed has announced that he's running for a second term.

Of course, that doesn't mean that these cities aren't still facing budget deficits.

In a move to cut costs, Newsom hired a new chief of staff, Yashar Hedayat, but will be paying him $14,000 a year less than his predecessor.

Newsom also sacked two staffers from the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, with no word on if they'll be replaced.

However, word on the street is that former mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard, who quit last month, is still on the city's payroll until February, and while Newsom is settling for only two deputy chiefs of staff that leaves at least four people in the Mayor's Office of Communications on the city payroll to pen Newsom's missives on the Huffington Post -- even though he's no longer running for higher office.

Jackson West figures Reed's a lock, because San Jose likes things boring, including their mayors.