Valley Delegates React in Loyal Party Fashion : Speaker: Some Republicans seem bitter, but Democrats say new leader is willing to work with them.

The changing of the guard Monday in the state Assembly revealed deep partisan divisions in the San Fernando Valley’s delegation, with Republicans and Democrats loyally squaring off over the selection of a new speaker.

The events left Valley Republicans feeling even more bitter than they did in January, when then Speaker Willie Brown forced an extension of his record-breaking, 14-year hold on the Assembly’s top post.

Brown’s latest maneuver, backing GOP Assemblywoman Doris Allen of Cypress as his successor, had such Republican colleagues as Paula Boland of Granada Hills and James Rogan of Glendale fuming.

Particularly irksome, they said, was the fact that Brown not only managed to woo a Republican away from her caucus, but that he also set the terms in the form of new rules drawn up to ensure a continued Democratic power base.

“I’ve seen a lot in my career, but what I’m witnessing today is one of the most disgraceful things I’ve seen in a long time,” said Boland.

Blasting what he called a perpetuation of Brown’s “imperial speakership,” Rogan said, “I see these rules as a step backward, not a step forward. . . . This is not reform.”

Democrats, on the other hand, were playing the role of the cat who ate the canary, and adopting a “who us?” attitude in response to Republican accusations that Brown engineered Allen’s candidacy so he could undermine the conservative GOP agenda.

Most Democrats said they had come to regard Allen, a moderate, as the best option in a scenario bound to include a Republican speaker. The other viable candidate, GOP leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, carried too much anti-Democrat baggage, they said.

Assemblyman Richard Katz of Sylmar was part of a delegation of Democrats who approached Brulte last week to see if he had softened his vision of pay-back Republican rule. Brulte apparently didn’t budge, and wanted his party to inherit the breadth of power Brown had employed for years.

“The bottom line always was, the Republicans wanted to be able to exercise the Republican majority on everything,” said Katz. Of backing Allen, he said, “We felt this was a better opportunity to maintain a balance in the house, given the close divisions.”

Allen’s accession leaves her beholden to Democrats, all of whom voted for her, while all the Republicans--other than Allen--threw their support behind Brulte.

Katz said that with Allen in power, he hopes to keep his prestigious post as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. Allen has indicated she is not interested in yanking Democrats from committee chairmanships or vice chairs, he said.

“She’s more open to working with Democrats,” Katz said. “She’s willing to reach across the aisle.”

Likewise, Democratic Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman may benefit from her alliances with Allen on the Assembly Health Committee, where Friedman is vice chairwoman to Allen’s chair.

“I really wanted to chair the Health Committee,” admitted Friedman. “But I think Doris has done a fabulous job. She knows the issues, she frames the issues.”

Friedman may stand to gain from Allen’s promotion. Traditionally, the Assembly speaker becomes too swamped by leadership duties to continue chairing committees, so Friedman may soon see an opening to compete for.

Friedman’s legislative agenda may also benefit from Allen’s becoming speaker, she said. Allen is strong on education and health issues, two areas that interest Friedman, and will be friendlier to Democratic goals than other Republican speakers might have been.

“I think that Valley voters, as much as if not more than most voters in California, want to see officeholders at every level putting politics way in the back seat and putting resolution and problem-solving in the front seat,” Friedman said. “I really think it’s undisputed that that fits Doris Allen.”

One person who would dispute that assessment is Boland, who was so offended by Monday’s events that she marched from the chamber when Brown called her by name to come congratulate Allen.

Outside, Boland said, “This is terrible for voters. Willie Brown is still in control. Bills won’t get passed or sent to committees where they should go. It’s unconscionable that a Republican would be Willie’s to be elected by all Democrats--simply because of ego.”

Because she has been outspoken against Allen--Boland took the floor twice Monday to voice her unhappiness--Boland worried aloud about her chairmanship of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

But she noted that one of her key pieces of legislation, a bill to ease breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District, already passed the Assembly and is in the Senate.