Monday, June 9th, 2008...8:11 am
Franklin “Jake” Flake
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Jake Flake, who served as Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2003-2004 before moving on to the Senate, died at his home near Snowflake, Arizona.
I remember Flake as the House Speaker when my brother was appointed mid-term to the House. Although they had their differences, Flake was helpful in getting him adjusted to the goings on in the house.
The thoughts and prayers of the R-Cubed family are with Flake’s wife Mary Louise.
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June 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I met Senator Flake a few times doing some work for a law enforcement client at the Capitol. He was always very polite and easy to work with.
And he always called me “ma’am” which I thought was cute.
He will be greatly missed.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
When I was doing my first lobbying fellowship in 1999, I was sitting in the lobby of the House.
A man, his wife and his child were trying to get the security guards to help them. They were clearly penniless, homeless and in desperate need of help. He was trying to sort out why he was not getting access to one form of aid, or another. I couldn’t hear the details.
There was a general air of discomfort and avoidance on the part of everybody in the area. Out comes Jake Flake, on his way somewhere.
He stopped and took control of the situation. He just listened to this guy’s problem. He then easily turned them all around and lead them to his office where, from what I understand, he walked them through the problems they were having with DES, or whatever the issue was.
Here is a guy who could have just left the issue to security. The guy was not from Flake’s district. But he did not.
He could have just said that DES is part of the problem and this guy should toughen up and find a way. But he did not.
I had a lot of respect for him that day.
He also implanted a phrase in my head that I do my best to live by: “your word is your bond.” I’m not perfect, but that saying helps a lot.
He told us that when we were all going through our orientation as legislators in 2002.
Farewell, Jake.
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