Dianne Feinstein (as Mayor)
Dianne Feinstein served as the 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988, a decade marked by significant urban transformation, fiscal recovery, and national prominence for the city. Her tenure followed a turbulent period that included the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978, events that thrust Feinstein into the mayoral office during a time of profound civic trauma. During her ten-year administration, Feinstein oversaw downtown development, including the construction of major commercial towers, implemented fiscal reforms that restored the city's budget stability, and elevated San Francisco's profile as a major American city. Her mayoralty represented a shift toward pro-business policies and downtown development, which remained contentious among progressive constituencies but garnered broad support from the business community and downtown interests. Feinstein's stewardship of San Francisco during this period shaped the city's growth trajectory into the 1980s and 1990s, establishing development patterns and governance approaches that would influence San Francisco for decades.
History
Dianne Feinstein assumed the office of Mayor on November 27, 1978, following the assassination of George Moscone on November 27, 1978. As President of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein was constitutionally next in line for the mayoral office. Her immediate challenge was to provide stability and leadership during a period of acute civic grief and uncertainty. The city reeled from the shock of the double assassination of Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, perpetrated by former Supervisor Dan White. Feinstein's early weeks as mayor focused on restoring confidence in city government, addressing public safety concerns, and providing dignified leadership during the subsequent trials and community response to the murders.[1]
Following her appointment, Feinstein sought election to a full term as mayor in 1979, running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, business-friendly development, and public safety. She won that election with approximately 67% of the vote, a substantial mandate that reflected both sympathy for her tragic accession to office and genuine support for her policy agenda. Her first full term focused on negotiating with downtown business interests and real estate developers regarding major commercial projects. Feinstein believed that downtown development and increased tax revenue would benefit all San Francisco residents through improved municipal services and employment opportunities. This philosophy put her at odds with the progressive wing of San Francisco politics, which sought to restrict downtown growth and prioritize neighborhood preservation. Despite opposition from growth-control advocates, Feinstein's administration approved major projects including the Transamerica Pyramid expansion, the Bank of America tower, and other significant commercial developments that reshaped San Francisco's skyline.
Feinstein was reelected in 1983 with strong support, winning approximately 79% of the vote. Her second term consolidated many of the administrative and budgetary reforms of her first term. By the mid-1980s, San Francisco's fiscal situation had substantially improved, with the city returning to structural budget balance after years of deficits. Feinstein's management of the municipal workforce, negotiations with labor unions, and careful budgeting won praise even from some political opponents. Her administration also addressed homelessness, tourism promotion, and waterfront revitalization. However, the emphasis on downtown development and business-friendly policies created tension within the city regarding affordable housing, neighborhood character, and equitable distribution of development benefits. When Feinstein left office in 1988, she had established herself as a major political figure in California, and she subsequently pursued a career in statewide and national politics, serving in the U.S. Senate beginning in 1992.
Economy
The San Francisco economy during Feinstein's mayoral tenure underwent significant transformation, with downtown commercial development as the central focus of municipal economic policy. When Feinstein took office in 1978, San Francisco faced fiscal distress, having accumulated substantial budget deficits and operating expenses that exceeded revenue. The city's financial condition reflected broader economic challenges facing older industrial cities in the late 1970s. Through aggressive cost management, negotiation with labor unions for wage concessions, and increased tax revenue from new development, Feinstein's administration restored fiscal stability. The city's credit rating improved substantially during her tenure, enabling more favorable borrowing terms for municipal bonds and infrastructure investment.[2]
Downtown commercial real estate development constituted the primary engine of municipal revenue growth during Feinstein's administration. Major projects approved during her tenure included office towers, hotel development, and retail expansion that increased the city's commercial tax base. The Transamerica Pyramid, already under construction when Feinstein became mayor, was completed in 1972 but additional towers were approved during her administration. The developer community strongly supported Feinstein's policies, as her administration streamlined the development approval process and avoided the restrictive growth-control policies that some progressive supervisors had advocated. This approach generated substantial new tax revenue, with the property tax base expanding significantly. However, the focus on commercial development also meant that affordable housing received less municipal attention and resources. During Feinstein's tenure, housing costs began rising substantially as demand for commercial space and residential housing increased in tandem with downtown development. Concerns about the equity implications of development-focused economic policy would become increasingly salient in subsequent decades, but Feinstein maintained that broadly expanded economic activity benefited all residents through job creation and increased municipal resources.
The tourism industry experienced substantial growth during Feinstein's mayoral period, as San Francisco's international profile increased and visitor numbers rose. The completion of the Moscone Convention Center, which opened in 1981, provided expanded capacity for large conventions and events. Feinstein's administration actively promoted San Francisco as a tourist destination and supported infrastructure improvements benefiting visitors and tourism businesses. Hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses catering to tourists expanded significantly during this period. Employment in the service sector, particularly in hospitality and tourism-related occupations, increased substantially. This growth in tourism-oriented employment had mixed effects on the city's economic structure, providing jobs but often at lower wages than the office sector positions generated by commercial development.
Notable People
Dianne Feinstein herself represents the most significant notable figure associated with this period of San Francisco's municipal government. Born in 1929, Feinstein came from a prominent San Francisco family with deep roots in the city's business and civic communities. Her father was a surgeon and her family had established connections to the banking and shipping industries. Before becoming mayor, Feinstein served on the Board of Supervisors beginning in 1969, representing the city as a whole from 1978 onward. Her political evolution from moderate Democrat to a nationally recognized political figure was substantially shaped by her mayoral experience in San Francisco. After leaving the mayor's office in 1988, Feinstein won election to the U.S. Senate in 1992, where she served for thirty years until her death in 2023, becoming California's senior senator and a major figure in national politics.
Frank Jordan, who succeeded Feinstein as mayor, represented continuity with some of Feinstein's policies while pursuing his own agenda of public safety emphasis and tourism promotion. Jordan, a former police chief, brought law enforcement experience to the mayor's office and sought to build on Feinstein's fiscal accomplishments. Other supervisors serving alongside Feinstein during her mayoral tenure included progressive voices advocating alternative policies regarding housing, growth management, and social services. These supervisors, including Harry Britt and others, represented the perspectives of constituencies less aligned with Feinstein's development-focused approach. The ideological tension between the mayor's office and progressive supervisors defined much of San Francisco's political discourse during the 1980s, establishing patterns of debate that would persist for decades. Business leaders, including major developers, hotel operators, and financial industry figures, strongly supported Feinstein's policies and worked collaboratively with her administration on major projects and economic initiatives.
Culture
The cultural life of San Francisco during Feinstein's mayoral tenure reflected the city's identity as a major artistic, literary, and bohemian center, even as downtown commercialization proceeded at an accelerated pace. The San Francisco arts community, including visual artists, performers, musicians, and writers, maintained the city's reputation as a destination for creative individuals. The American Conservatory Theater, founded in 1965, continued producing classical and contemporary theater during Feinstein's administration. The San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera remained major cultural institutions attracting national and international audiences. Feinstein's administration supported arts funding through municipal budgets, though some critics argued that the emphasis on downtown development sometimes compromised the affordability and accessibility of cultural spaces and housing for artists.[3]
The gay and lesbian community, which had become increasingly visible and politically active in San Francisco since the 1960s, represented a significant cultural and demographic force during Feinstein's mayoral period. The assassination of Harvey Milk, a prominent gay rights activist and supervisor, occurred at the beginning of Feinstein's tenure, and the city's response to Milk's death and the subsequent trial became major cultural moments. The gay community's political power and cultural presence continued to grow during the 1980s, though the AIDS epidemic emerged in the early 1980s as a devastating crisis that profoundly affected the community and the city's cultural and political landscape. Feinstein's administration responded to the AIDS crisis with public health measures, though some activists argued that the city's response could have been more robust and rapid. The cultural tensions surrounding homosexuality, public health, development, and the changing character of San Francisco's neighborhoods defined much of the city's social discourse during this period.