Citing Achievements, Allen Says She Will Not Resign : Politics: Speaker outlines agenda and says that thanks to her, GOP now holds majority on Assembly policy committees. She says she will also defeat recall efforts.

Assembly Speaker Doris Allen conceded Tuesday that she is under enormous pressure from fellow Republicans who view her as a traitor but vowed not to resign and predicted that she would defeat efforts to recall her from office.

“I will not walk away from bullies,” the defiant Speaker said. “I will not walk away from what I believe is right.”

In her first formal address to the capital press corps, Allen also outlined her policy agenda, pledging to improve California’s economy, block tax increases and push tougher penalties for crime during the remainder of the 1995-96 legislative session.

And she took the opportunity to tout her accomplishments as Speaker. Since her election June 5, she said, Republicans have achieved a majority on Assembly policy committees, and an increasing number of bills with GOP authors are meeting with success.

“Winston Churchill once said, ‘Facts are better than dreams,’ ” Allen told reporters. “My detractors dreamed about a Republican majority [on Assembly committees]. The fact is, I am the one who delivered it.”

Allen, 59, won the speakership in an extraordinary turn of events, rising to power with all of the Assembly Democrats’ votes but no Republican votes--except her own. The episode infuriated Republicans, who preferred another candidate and labeled her a turncoat and a puppet of former Democratic Speaker Willie Brown.

Since Allen’s ascension, a handful of GOP members have come into her corner. But most Republicans remain irate and are supporting efforts to hold a recall election in Allen’s Orange County district this year.

This month, the recall was endorsed by leaders of the California Republican Party, who also agreed to provide money to the campaign. One typical mailer arriving at thousands of homes features a picture of Brown and the words: “Official Stop Willie Brown/Recall Doris Allen Petition.”

On Tuesday, Allen said she would survive the recall. She also rejected suggestions that her power as Speaker is diluted by the enmity that persists toward her among fellow Republicans.

“It hasn’t been a pretty picture,” Allen said. “But I’ve been pretty effective. . . . If they are good Republicans, and I hope they are, they will continue to put forth the Republican agenda. How they feel about me isn’t the issue.”

And while “all the name-calling” and other stresses of her tenure have been difficult, Allen said she has no plans to step down.

“I hate it,” Allen said of the hostile environment, but resigning “is not an option I would ever consider.”

Instead, she expressed hope that the acrimony would soon be behind her.

“Now it is time to get about the people’s business,” Allen said. “The time for infighting and bruised egos and recalls is over.”

On other topics, Allen said that accusations are untrue that her speakership is controlled by former Speaker Brown. While she relies heavily on Brown for advice, she said, “he doesn’t run the Republican agenda or my philosophy.”

“Willie Brown was Speaker for 15 years [and] . . . you can bet I asked him a jillion questions,” Allen said. Calling the speakership a “very big job,” she added, “Who else am I gonna go to? They all go to Willie. They all learn from Willie. That doesn’t make you a traitor.”

Allen also had harsh words for GOP party leaders who are threatening retribution against Republicans who have supported her. Specifically, Assemblyman Brian Setencich (R-Fresno)--Allen’s most loyal ally--has been the target of recall threats.

“The chance of reprisal is enormous,” Allen said, lambasting Republican “powerbrokers” for their insistence that all GOP members “walk in lock-step” or face the consequences.

When asked how she expected to work with the Assembly’s newly elected Republican leader--Curt Pringle of Garden Grove--given their bitter feud, Allen said she hoped that Pringle would put policy ahead of personal differences. Pringle has been one of Allen’s most strident critics; in response, she has stripped him of a prime committee chairmanship and exiled him to a cramped office across from a noisy bank of elevators.