SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown ordered flags to be flown at half-staff Tuesday to honor former Washington State Representative Georgette Valle.
The order coincides with a request from Governor Jay Inslee’s office to honor the late representative, who served in the Legislature over a span of four decades.
“I encourage anyone with a flag outside of their home or business to join us in this recognition to honor her memory,” Brown said.
Valle secured her first term representing the Burien area as a Democrat in 1965 and served 12 occasionally nonconcurrent terms until leaving state government in 1997. She died on July 10 at 99 years old.
She was a noted environmental leader throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s as national leaders began to grapple with the
She also led a policy effort to ban smoking in public indoor spaces, which was signed into law in 1985. In a 2001 interview with Highline Heritage Museum, she called the ban her crowning legislative achievement.
“I fought for 12 years in Olympia and finally passed it. You never know how much, in the days before the Public Disclosure Commission, you would never know how much tobacco money was spent against you,” Valle said.
Brown served alongside Valle in the State House from 1994 to 1996, when Spokane’s future mayor secured a seat in the State Senate.
“I was pleased to serve with and was inspired by Rep. Georgette Valle,” Brown said.
