 Allen and Councilman Ed J. Davenport were leaders of a drive asking the federal government to lift wartime rent controls on rentals in the city, and when the City Council voted in favor, petitions were circulated to recall the two men.When the federal government declined to lift the controls, an "explosive situation" of "near-riot proportions" broke out in the City Council chamber, with Allen threatening to "break every bone" in the head of the chairman of a Tenants Council.The next year, though, after the controls had been lifted, he called for imposition of new limits unless "rent gougers" ceased imposing increases of 50% to 100%.