‘Vision and guts.’ First woman to be elected Tacoma mayor remembered as tough, hardworking

Karen Vialle told Tacoma mayor Victoria Woodards there were two words she wanted to be remembered for after she died: vision and guts.

“Being able to have a vision to see what needs to be done and having the guts to go do it,” Woodards told The News Tribune on Monday.

Vialle, a Tacoma Public Schools board member and former mayor of Tacoma, shared her hopes with Woodards in a heart-to-heart prior to Vialle’s death.

“We laughed and we cried and she was her regular old Karen self — mind sharp as a tack,” Woodards said.

Vialle died Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer. She was 76.

Leaders say Vialle was known for her local roots as a fifth-generation Tacoman.

“I appreciated (her) encyclopedic knowledge of the history of Tacoma,” said Scott Heinze, vice president of Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors.

Vialle also was known for being passionate and “tough-minded” about her work.

“She didn’t suffer fools, and she would call you on it,” Heinze said. “I think she made us all better because of that approach.”

‘Breaking the glass ceiling’

Vialle, born and raised in Tacoma, was a Tacoma Public Schools student from the get-go. She graduated from Wilson High School in 1961 and from the University of Puget Sound in 1963 with a degree in political science.

She married her husband, Marvin, in 1968. The two celebrated their 49th anniversary in December. She went on to adopt three children and have eight grandchildren.

Vialle wore many hats: an assistant professor, PTA mom, school administrator and consultant for the Puyallup and Muckleshoot tribal school systems, a substitute teacher, executive director of Centro Latino, assistant director of the state budget office and deputy chief for the state insurance commissioner, to name a few.

Her first time running for office was for a Tacoma City Council position. She was elected and served from 1988 to 1989.

Bill Baarsma, former mayor of Tacoma who knew Vialle since they attended UPS together in the ‘60s, encouraged her to run.

“She’s probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” Baarsma told The News Tribune Monday. “Extremely focused and hardworking, no doubt about that.”

Baarsma remembers Vialle telling him she wanted to run for mayor in 1989. She wasn’t the first woman to run for mayor, Baarsma said, but was the first to win.

“It was tremendous dynamic change in local politics,” Baarsma said. “She was the first woman to break through the glass ceiling. People became more comfortable and two people, two women of color, have followed.”

Vialle served as mayor from 1990 to 1994. During her term, she played a role in cleaning up the Foss Waterway, a Puyallup Tribe land claim settlement, renovation of Union Station and the development of the University of Washington.

As the first woman mayor, Vialle served as an inspiration for Woodards, who said she often asked Vialle for advice on leading the city and “how to be recognized” in a room as a woman leader.

“Being a woman in leadership is still difficult, and I can’t imagine how difficult it had been for Karen as the first,” Woodards said.

Vialle’s assertive approach was not always taken positively. She lost her re-election campaign for the mayor of Tacoma in 1994. A controversial purchase of the Foss Waterway Superfund Site during her term may have contributed, Baarsma said.

She was “intense — sharp elbows in many issues,” Baarsma said.

“I think her approach was, ‘Do not take me lightly,’” Heinze said. “There’s a societal expectation that men are going to go out there and speak their mind. When a woman does it, at times it’s perceived differently.”

Serving Tacoma schools

After taking some time off from public office, Vialle decided she wanted to run for Tacoma Public Schools board of directors in 2011.

She was elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2017.

“I think Karen had a unique (role) of having been a student in TPS … then she raised kids that were in TPS, then she taught kds that were in TPS, and then she was able to serve a board position where she could affect policy and budget for kids in TPS,” Heinze said.

Heinze said Vialle fought for equality for all students, having three adopted children of color. She also contributed to increasing the district’s graduation rates and led the way in 2012 to have the district designated the first “Innovation Zone” in the state for its schools.

“She has been a pioneer and a trailblazer,” Heinze said.

In a video posted to Facebook in tribute to Vialle, Superintendent Carla Santorno said she’ll be “working to make sure there’s something significant in Tacoma Public Schools that has your name on it.”

Tacoma Public Schools will start a process to fill Vialle’s position on the school board, Santorno said. Board policy requires vacant seats to be filled within 90 days with a public process.

“This is a significant loss. We will all miss her dearly,” Santorno told The News Tribune on Sunday. “We have all been praying for her to rally and come back. We can’t imagine life on the board without her.”

Remembering a ‘trailblazer’

Before Vialle’s death, Woodards told her that she was going to be an honoree at the 13th Annual Destiny Dinner for Tacoma Historical Society in September.

“She broke out into tears,” Woodards said.

Other leaders have spoken out about Vialle’s passing, including Gov. Jay Inslee.

“I was sad to hearing of Karen’s passing,” Inslee said in a tweet. “She was a tremendous force for good in Tacoma and beyond. Karen was source of support and kindness for me as I was coming up through the ranks and I know she’s helped inspire and support so many others as well.”

Vialle’s family is working to arrange a memorial service and “will share details when available,” Tacoma Public Schools shared in a statement.

Woodards said she plans to reserve the moment of silence at Tuesday’s Council meeting for Vialle and that a proclamation honoring Vialle’s contributions to the city is on the way.

“Just knowing as the first woman (mayor), she paved the way for other women ... we should be grateful of that,” Woodards said through tears. “She will be missed.”