Allen, on Home Turf, Affirms GOP Commitment : Politics: New Assembly Speaker, whose deals with Democrats have enraged some fellow Republicans, addresses a placid crowd at a Los Alamitos fair.

Calling herself a “weary warrior,” new Assembly Speaker Doris Allen (R-Cypress) put on a pair of comfortable white sneakers and, on her second day home in her district, went to a low-key community fair.

Visibly tired, Allen briefly took the stage at the first Los Alamitos Summerfest and assured the small crowd that in spite of her deals with Democrats, she remains dedicated to Republican principles.

She also trumpeted the historic impact of her rise to become the first female Speaker and vowed to usher in a new era of cooperative politics--if her own party lets her.

“I am hoping for a truly bipartisan effort on the part of the Legislature to do good policy and problem solving,” Allen said to cheers.

But she reiterated her intent to see that Democrats have adequate funding, staffing and other tools to represent their districts.

“Democrats represent about half the population of California, and they should have the tools they need to care for their districts,” she said.

Allen has been under attack from her fellow Republicans all week, but on Saturday she was preaching to the choir. Other than a few small boys who booed when she spoke of a woman being Speaker, no heckling marred her appearance. No one accused her of being Speaker Emeritus Willie Brown’s puppet or called her a traitor.

Instead, several people who identified themselves as Democrats and Republicans wondered what the fuss was all about. Allen’s politics, they pointed out, are not at issue.

“I’ve always voted for Doris, and I’m a Democrat,” said Los Alamitos Mayor Charles E. Sylvia. “She is smart, and she has seniority, so what is their problem?”

“Personally, the problem I see in Orange County Republicans is that it’s a men’s club,” Sylvia said. “They treat the women very shabbily.”

Allen concurred that Democratic assemblywomen are treated better by the men in their party than are Republican women.

“But then look how many of them there are: There are more of them, and they demand good treatment,” she said.

Although she is a staunch Republican, Allen said, her stands on certain issues do not follow strict GOP party line.

She is moderate on education and health care issues and strongly favors health care reform that “serves the patients and not just big insurance companies,” she said. She is pro-business and strongly opposes gun control, abortion and taxes--including the proposed half-cent “bankruptcy recovery” sales tax Orange County voters will decide on June 27. Some would even call her borderline liberal on environmental issues, Allen said.

“We selected her as the Orange County Legislator of the Year last year,” said Los Alamitos Councilwoman Alice Jempsa. “The entire Orange County League of Cities was involved, and that’s got to tell you something.”

Allen’s first step as Speaker will be to form a bipartisan task force to come up with a list of California’s problems and an agenda for solving them, she said. All of her energy will be focused on policy, Allen said. She does not intend to run again in 1996, she said, and threats by Republican legislators to launch a recall campaign do not scare her.

“The people here in Orange County have said they will take care of that for me, and I’m going to let them,” Allen said. “I’m going to focus on policy.”

Many Orange County residents do not consider her ascent to the speakership to be worthy of controversy, said Seal Beach Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings.

“I don’t think the people of Orange County are that concerned at all,” Hastings said. She added that many women are pleased to see Allen in a position of prominence. Hastings also predicted that Assembly Republicans will eventually pull together and support Allen.

If Republicans do not get behind the new Speaker, constituents might become angry about the party rift, others predicted.

Cynthia Farrell, a Los Alamitos resident who went to the fair with her husband, Mike, and their two children, said that she would be keeping a close watch on the Orange County delegation to see if its members support Allen.

“If they don’t back her, they’re going to lose a lot of Republicans,” Farrell said, “because we have nothing against her.

“And we’re not cattle; we don’t just follow along wherever they tell us to go.”