Obama Will Call Out Mayor Villaraigosa if Stimulus Money is Wasted

California mayors, from left to right: Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; Ron Dellums of Oakland, back to camera; and Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, talk in the East Room of the White House in Washington today before the arrival of President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

"The American people are watching," Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House today, saying he would call them out if the public's money went to waste.

"They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they've earned - they've worked so hard to earn - spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud," Obama said. "If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it. I want everyone here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it."

City Council President Eric Garcetti understands this very well. Last week in a telephone press conference, he said projects must be held accountable. They also should not be one-time injections into the job market, but an "urban acupuncture" of sorts where projects will spur local economic development and more jobs for the future.

As the stimulus money gets to cities, spending reports from Los Angeles will apparently be posted on Recovery.gov.