Longtime Westside L.A. City Councilman Marvin Braude died Wednesday of complications following surgery. He was 85.

Braude, who represented the 11th district on the L.A. City Council from 1965 until he left because of term limits in 1997, was a staunch environmentalist. He fought to preserve land in the Santa Monica Mountains as open space; he was one of the original sponsors of the California Coastal Act and fought against oil drilling along the coast; and he was a longtime member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District board.

Braude also pushed groundbreaking ordinances banning smoking in public places, with an ordinance he sponsored in the late 1970s to ban smoking in elevators that was copied nationwide.

“He was a formidable political figure in Los Angeles. He was often out in front on key issues, often alone at first but the rest of the city and the nation eventually came around to his views,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said Thursday.

Braude’s district also included part of the San Fernando Valley and he fought hard for more resources for the Valley. After leaving office in 1997, Braude retired, occasionally speaking out on environmental issues. His longtime deputy Cindy Miscikowski succeeded him on the Council. She left this year because of term limits.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered flags at city buildings to be flown at half staff until memorial services on Monday.