Brown Plays Down Flap Over Ouster of GOP Trio

Seeking to avoid further antagonism of Republicans, Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown on Wednesday tried to play down the flap over his removal of three GOP committee chairmen for taking part last week in an unusual parliamentary challenge to his authority.

But Assembly GOP Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale accused Brown of a “misuse of power” and charged him with “punishing people for voting their conscience.” Nolan said Assembly Republicans would refuse any chairmanships if Brown offered them.

The powerful Speaker ousted the three Republican chairmen on Tuesday in retaliation for their support of an unsuccessful motion to pull a previously rejected anti-abortion bill from the Judiciary Committee and put it before the full Assembly.

It’ll Blow Over

On Wednesday, Brown predicted that the excitement would blow over and said he hoped it would not affect his relatively smooth relations with the minority party. He also said he “absolutely” would still give committee chairmanships to GOP members.

Some Republicans took Brown’s ouster of the trio in stride.

“What else did they expect?” asked Gov. George Deukmejian rhetorically at a press conference. “That’s the way that game is played in the Assembly,” said the governor, a former assemblyman himself.

“I am sure that all the Republicans who accepted committee chairmanships knew that if at any time they did anything that the Speaker didn’t like, that he probably would remove them,” he said.

Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando of San Pedro, chairman of the Assembly minority GOP caucus, agreed. “Hey, that’s the way it is,” Felando told a reporter. “We don’t have 41 votes (a majority). When we do get 41, you’ll be calling up Democrats and asking them how it feels to be removed as committee chairmen.

‘Get Even’

“It’s not fun to get mad. It’s more fun to get even,” Felando said.

The three who lost their chairmanships were Assembly members Phillip D. Wyman (R-Tehachapi), of Constitutional Amendments; Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad), of Consumer Protection, and Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), of Intergovernmental Relations.

The conflict developed last week over a Senate-approved bill authored by Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier) that would have required a minor to receive parental consent or an order by a Superior Court judge before she could undergo an abortion.

Democrats insisted that the GOP wanted to obtain a recorded floor vote on the politically charged abortion issue in an election year for possible political advantage. Republicans failed to muster the necessary 41 votes to extract the legislation from the committee that had earlier killed it.

Asked at a press conference about his retaliatory measures, Brown said, “Chairpersons have been selected because of their ability to perform the task and on the basis of their ability to assist in operating the house. That will continue to be the standard by which they are selected during my tenure.”

Brown appointed three Democrats to replace the ousted Republicans on a temporary basis: Johan Klehs of San Leandro, Constitutional Amendments; Tom Hannigan of Fairfield, Consumer Protection, and Frank Vicencia of Bellflower, Intergovernmental Relations.