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Excessive spending and lavish furnishings for San Jose's new city hall inspired this San Jose Mercury News investigation. City officials planned to equip the new building with 45 million dollars worth of furniture, plasma televisions, and the most costly technology. At the same time, the city was undergoing a series of budget deficits, layoffs, and service cuts to residents over the years. According to the questionnaire, "city officials privately consulted with Cisco about what technology it ought to deploy in the new building and then designed an $8 million computer-and-telephone network using only the company's equipment."