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The mayor's principal challenge was to refill a municipal till that had been seriously depleted by the restrictions imposed by California's tax-cutting Proposition 13. Feinstein formed a fiscal advisory committee, composed of executives from many of the city's major corporations, and directed it to apply the efficiencies of private industry to city government. One example: instead of letting each of the city's 52 departments handle its own insurance needs, a single centralized unit was formed to negotiate policies for all.
One of her proudest accomplishments was the introduction four years ago of corporate-style "management by objective." Twice a year, Feinstein and her department heads set largely numerical goals for everything from water-department revenues to police response times. These are subjected to rigorous reviews, with failures duly noted and usually rectified. Another priority has been the rebuilding of San Francisco's cable-car system, a $58.2 million project due to be completed by late June, three weeks before Democratic conventiongoers start pouring in. She wheedled 80% of the funds from Washington and cajoled private citizens to donate the rest. Says Harold Geissenheimer, general manager of the city's transit system: "This is a businesswoman running this city. She's there seven days a week."
Feinstein's critics charge that her ties with Big Business, and particularly real estate developers, are unsettlingly close. Under her administration, claim the critics, rampant high-rise construction has destroyed the character of the city's downtown, darkening its streets and driving out small business. Says Bruce Brugmann, publisher of the Bay Guardian, a local newsweekly: "With Feinstein it's been allegro furioso all the way. She's helping wreck the city she was born in." The mayor counters that her 1983 plan for downtown proposes "the most restrictive zoning of any high-rise business center in the nation."
Other detractors regard Feinstein's attention to detail as bordering on the obsessive and claim that the city would benefit if she delegated more authority. A close aide to Feinstein grouses that she edits correspondence written over her name so closely that "you could write a novel in the time it takes to write a letter for her."
Feinstein has established a dress code for her senior staff that includes neckties for men and dresses or skirts for women; the police and fire chiefs must be in full uniform when they come to her office. The mayor asks a lot of her staff in other ways. Recalls former Press Secretary Mel Wax: "If a story the least bit critical of her appeared in the newspaper, she'd say, 'You should have done this, or you should have done that.' There's a lot of the schoolteacher about her. She's difficult. She's demanding. It drives you crazy."