Local Oakland TV news team catches Dellums 'living large'

Although one of his assistants has already said the mayor would partially reimburse the city for his stays in pricey hotels while on the road, an Oakland-based TV news team has shown that Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums does indeed appreciate the finer things in life.

The KTVU.com report, based on a two month investigation and driven off documents collected through the California Public Records Act, showed that Dellums has spent more than $50,000 in personal expenses over the course of the last year and has insisted upon staying in such places at the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton hotels in Washington, D.C. while carrying out city business.

A longtime and well-respected member of Congress, Dellums continues to own a home in Washington's exclusive Georgetown area but chose nevertheless to stay in the upscale hotels while in the nation's capitol.The KTVU report, broadcast over the weekend, comes to light while Dellums wrangles with a $14.5 million city deficit.

In reaction, he has called for city worker furloughs and to hike local taxes to pay for extra police in the crime-plagued East Bay city. In the same period, the probe also showed Dellums staff spent more than $50,000 in reimbursable expenses.

The report compared those expenses to those expended during current California Attorney General Jerry Brown's last year in office as mayor of Oakland. During that period Brown and his staff spent a total of less than $3,000 in taxpayer money on reimbursable expenses, the KTVU report shows.