Allen Foe Takes a More Outspoken Role : Assembly: Paula Boland, recently stripped of a key position, says she abandoned low-key style to fight hypocrisy and lack of leadership.

“There’s a new sheriff in town, and I’m it.”

That was Paula Boland’s pet phrase when she was appointed chairwoman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Her enthusiasm was so palpable, you could almost hear spurs clanking.

A mere six months later, Boland has been stripped of her figurative badge--kicked out of Dodge by the real new sheriff: Speaker Doris Allen (R-Cypress), who, if she couldn’t silence her critics, was out to show them who was boss.

In so doing last week, Allen not only yanked the chairmanship from Boland but booted her altogether off the panel where she has made her mark on criminal justice and gun legislation.

The San Fernando Valley Republican, a 55-year-old former real estate broker who’s carved out a reputation as a victims’ rights advocate, was among a handful of enemies that Allen purged from top committee posts, saying only, “I need a team I can work with.”

To understand how events escalated to such a crescendo is to comprehend the depth to which Assembly Republicans are embittered by Allen’s back-room rise as an ally--and some claim, puppet--of former Democratic Speaker Willie Brown.

Against this backdrop, Boland, more than any other female member of the Assembly, has taken the lead in attacking Allen for a perceived betrayal not only of the party, but of her sister Republicans.

In this respect, the Allen takeover has spotlighted Boland’s transformation from an unassuming “back-bencher” in her early legislative days into something of an Assembly bulldog.

While some GOP members are holding back, Boland is in the forefront of the Republican Caucus’ anti-Allen charge, with comments like: “Real simply, she is a hypocrite as a woman. She has abrogated her responsibility. . . . She is unfit as a leader.”

Boland explains, “I came here because of things I believe in. When I see hypocrisy, when I see this body deteriorating, when I see deception, I just can’t take it. If I sit back, I’m just part of the problem.”

Allen’s office said her decision to dump Boland from the Public Safety Committee had nothing whatsoever to do with what Boland calls the “personal vendetta” to which Allen has stooped.

“In times like these, there’s a lot of emotion,” said Mike MeCey, Allen’s spokesman. “Hopefully, people will cool over the weekend and then we can get focused on why we are really up here--to do the people’s business.”

Privately, fellow GOP members have taken note of the new “in-your-face Paula” that has emerged. They offer public praise for Boland’s partisan devotion as Allen recall efforts get under way.

“Paula Boland has demonstrated herself to be a tireless leader,” said Assemblyman James E. Rogan (R-Glendale).

Boland herself takes note of her metamorphosis since her 1990 election in the Assembly’s 38th District, which stretches from the west San Fernando Valley into eastern Ventura County.

“When I came here, I was doing things quieter and getting things accomplished in the background. And when you’re dealing with civilized people, that’s easier to do,” she said. “I no longer do that. I have to do things publicly now in order to get my voice heard so that people know exactly what’s going on around here.”

Bringing Boland to the boiling point last week was Allen’s uninterested reaction to an obscene hand gesture aimed at Boland by liberal Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) during floor debate.

Boland urged a censure of Vasconcellos, but Allen refused, saying, “Women who attack women are out of order too,” in reference to Boland’s behavior toward Allen.

By Thursday, Boland rose on the floor in a fury. In the topsy-turvy logic that has overtaken today’s Assembly, she told colleagues they had been better off with Brown as Speaker because at least he had insisted on some decorum for the house.

“I am totally, totally astounded that someone who has cloaked herself with women and women’s issues would not have been appalled [at Vasconcellos’ gesture],” Boland said. Casting the dispute in feminist terms, and Allen as sexist, struck some members as a bit off-key.

“Paula was personally very hurt and upset by the issue and felt unsupported. I’m not saying her feelings aren’t real, but I don’t think this has anything to do with a women’s issue,” said Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

Kuehl served on the Public Safety Committee alongside Boland and said she has come to appreciate her colleague’s candor and zeal. “I actually have praised her for the very forthright way that she sets out opinions--with which I totally disagree. She’s a total gun advocate. She’s absolutely in favor of locking up just about everybody in the whole world,” Kuehl said. “But her style is go-get-’em.”

Where Kuehl and others part company with Boland is over policy. “She brought a bill to make the penalty the same for attempted carjacking as for one that was completed--something that totally goes against the law,” Kuehl said.

But Boland’s aim, though it may not always square with the intent of the law, makes a direct political hit in the West Valley, where every month seems to bring news of another horrifying killing.

Boland’s legislative agenda in favor of tough-on-crime bills plays well in the district.

At the same time, however, Boland has taken some heat from gun control advocates who believe that reducing availability of weapons would help lower crime rates. Boland is fiercely partisan on this point, opposing gun control.

Even when the Northridge earthquake rattled her Granada Hills home, knocking down her chimney and leading to months of repairs, Boland did not stray from the party line. As a means of helping fund quake recovery, Democrats pushed for a temporary sales tax increase, but Boland--damaged house and all--didn’t budge from GOP opposition to any form of tax hike.

Her most high-profile legislative crusade has nothing to do with the Assembly speakership, crime or taxes, and is a battle that is far from over.

For years, Boland has been trying to facilitate a breakup of the mammoth Los Angeles Unified School District, a goal of parent advocates who see smaller as better for public education. This year’s strategy has gotten her bill farther along than before--past the Assembly and on to the Senate.

Back on the Assembly side, Boland’s outspokenness against Allen has some Democrats wondering if she and other Republicans aren’t stuck in an underdog mentality.

“Some of her comments and tactics are very typical of folks who are used to being in the minority, have a minority mind-set and haven’t figured out they are in the majority yet,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar).

But Boland rejects the notion that Allen should be counted as a Republican purist. She is convinced that Allen will fall in a recall election. If that happens, she said, she’s sure she will return to the Public Safety Committee in one capacity or another. Then, next year, she’ll face the consequences of term limits.

“I can always go back to the business world,” she said. As far as politics goes, “I feel very seasoned--as though I’ve been here 15 years. I really got in the thick of things.”