Feinstein Details Ambitious State Agenda

Former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein laid out an ambitious agenda for California on Friday, but when asked how she would pay for some of her ideas if elected governor in 1990, she said she was not certain.

“A decade after Proposition 13 there is an ennui, a lack of leadership and forcefulness. . . . I want to be an activist governor, a governor who isn’t afraid of taking a position,” Feinstein, who is exploring a run in the Democratic primary, told reporters in Los Angeles.

Asked what she had in mind for the state, Feinstein, 55, talked nonstop for 25 minutes and covered everything from the state’s role in the Pacific Rim to reinstituting indeterminate sentences for criminals.

California needs to vastly improve its education system, Feinstein said, if it is “to compete in a sophisticated economy.” That will take lots of money, she acknowledged, adding that one thing she would do is pay teachers more.

Mandatory Terms

More prisons will be needed, she said, because “I am for a mandatory jail sentence for the first sale (of drugs).”

“The kids I work with (in San Francisco programs) who are into drugs don’t believe they are ever going to do time,” Feinstein said.

She said there should be more programs to help children in the inner city escape poverty, and she praised one such program she visited in Watts on Thursday.

Moving on, she said, “I wish we had a better answer for mental health. I’ve watched when there were 37,500 beds, going down to 2,500 beds in a state of 17 million people that is now 27 million people.”

The state’s basic infrastructure, especially freeways, also needs upgrading, Feinstein said.

How would she pay for all of this?

For one thing, she replied, she would raise the gasoline tax, something many other officials also favor.

But beyond that, she said, “I think right now is a period of uncertainty and I’m uncertain.”

“We don’t know if there is an $800-million (revenue) windfall. And we’re also looking at the Gann limit,” Feinstein said.

Lifting Limit

She said she favors lifting that restriction, a voter-approved constitutional amendment that limits growth in state spending by tying it to inflation and population growth.

Feinstein said she would not now support raising any taxes other than the levy on gasoline, but she added, “I’m not shy in that regard if I have all the facts.”

At times in her recitation of facts and figures she resembled a student who had just crammed for an exam.

Asked whether she was familiar with a proposal to put the state on a “split role,” that is, having corporations pay one assessment and homeowners another, she said, “Well, I’m somewhat familiar with it. I know that it takes commercial property from 1% to 2.2% (of assessed value), keeps residential at 1%, cultural at 1%, commercial farms at 2.2% and creates funds for the homeless and for affordable housing.

“I think in general the idea of a split value makes sense. There is no commercial value in residential property. You don’t look at a house as a highest and best use. . . .

“Commercial property is different. There is speculation, there is the concept of the highest and best use, so it makes sense to go to a split roll.”

Nature of Crime

Feinstein said she wanted to return to indeterminate sentencing for criminals because it takes into account the nature of the crime and other facts that might keep some people locked up longer.

She said she thinks she is tougher on crime issues than Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, who is also seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

“I am pro-death penalty, he is not,” Feinstein said. “The people of California voted for it, and if they were to vote for it today, I believe they would even be more in affirmation of the death penalty.”

But what about U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, who is expected to run unopposed for the Republican gubernatorial nomination? In the past, Feinstein has praised Wilson for his work on California issues.

“Pete Wilson is a Reagan Republican,” she replied. “I don’t have the specific issues yet, but Pete Wilson . . . went up and down this state last year telling people he wanted to be their U.S. senator.

“He won, took the oath of office and then said, ‘Sorry, folks, the big cigars in the back room now want me to be governor.’ I question that kind of motivation. You’ve got to want to do the job.”

Although a recent California Poll found Feinstein leading Van de Kamp by 38% to 30% among Democrats in the governor’s race, she has been criticized for not spending much time in Southern California, where the majority of the state’s voters live.

That will change, she said. She is looking for a part-time residence and some office space in Los Angeles.