Lets see what we have here:

- Los Altos happily gave $25,000 to the DWC to get rid of the illegals on their streets while still having access to cheap labor but blanches at $5,000 for the homeless.

- "Jac Siegel, [...] wanted the trust to come back with an explanation for how it came up with the request amounts" Indeed.

- Add to that a request for an explanation as to why the council voted for spending money without an explanation.

- Hasn't the council been talking about how to save money given the current economic turmoil?

- "funds collected from housing developers" is a euphemism which means "we'll jack up the prices on new home owners to pay for affordable housing".

- No, that doesn't make any more sense to me than Obama's plan to spend our way of the the financial crises or Bush's plan to cut taxes to raise the tax base.

"Bush's plan to cut taxes to raise the tax base."

If you mean cut tax rates to increase tax revenues, which is what was done and what actually happened, here's how it works. Government cuts tax rates, leaves more money in pockets of taxpayers, they invest it in businesses, businesses sell more products and hire more people, who in turn pay more taxes. It is pretty simple once you stop thinking of taxes as a static zero-sum game.

Now, as to Obama's 'plan' you're on your own. It's principally a payoff to the special interest groups that supported his last campaign and that he expects will contribute to his next campaign.

As to our beloved City Council, they are still spending money like nothing has changed. After all, they can just go back to the hit up the taxpayers when they run low. Notice that the so-called fiscal conservatives like Kascperzak and Means voted to go along with this ripoff.

I share USA's dismay at the irony (some might call it h*pocrisy) for supporting a center which bandaids the situation with undocumented workers and yet essentially thumbs its nose at the longer-term situation of how to house financially-disadvantaged people.

Who do you think cruises over here to pick up cheap help? Start taking photographs of the license plates of those fellows hiring illegals. Send those photos to the authorities. Taxes aren't being paid.

So they were irritated, but gave the money? I don't understand, is there some sort of implication that Mountain View has more residents who will use these funds? More than any other city in the county?