Frank was born on September 4, 1944 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Peabody High School in Pittsburgh and did his undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1966. His law degree is from Duquesne University, graduating in 1971. Frank served for twenty-five years as a legal services lawyer addressing housing and other civil issues facing low income persons and was involved in landmark litigation creating rights for persons displaced by urban renewal and developed state and federal, as well as litigation strategies, to avoid homelessness.

Representative Smizik served the Town of Brookline in many capacities; as a member of the Democratic Town Committee, a Town Meeting member, the Commissioner and Chairman of the Housing Authority, and as Vice Chair of the School Committee prior to being elected in 2000 as the Representative from the 15th Norfolk District.

As Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, Representative Smizik hopes to bring more public awareness to the link between public health and the environment focusing on toxics in our air and water.

Frank is married to Julia (Julie) Johnson. They were married on January 1, 1981 and they have two children, Emma and Hallie.

 

Of Counsel, Kurnos, Rosenberg & Libbey General Law Practice (Present)

Lecturer in Law (Housing Policy and the Law) Boston College Law School 885 Centre St. Newton MA 1990-Present

Lecturer Suffolk School of Management Business & Government Ethics 1996-97

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute 99 Chauncy St., Boston, MA 02111 October 1978-April 1995

Neighborhood Legal Services Pittsburgh June 1970-September 1978

Managing Lawyer 1972-75

 

State Representative, 15th Norfolk District (Brookline), elected November 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006

Brookline School Committee, elected in 1992 to the first of three 3-year terms

Commissioner, Brookline Housing Authority, 1982-1992

Town Meeting Member, Brookline Town Meeting, 1981 - Present

Housing Advisory Board, Town of Brookline, 1984-86

Elected Member, Brookline Democratic Town Committee

Member, EDCO (Educational Collaborative) Board of Directors, Public Policy Committee, 1995-1999

METCO Board of Directors, 1998-1999

Board of Directors, Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association, 1985

Co-Founder, Massachusetts Tenant Organization, 1981

Tegler, Philip , et. al., INCLUSIONARY ZONING MOVES DOWNTOWN, "Munoz Mendoza v. Pierce: Pursuit of a Court Ordered Inclusionary Remedy to Public/Private Displacement, ”by Frank I Smizik, Planners Press, Chicago 1985;

Federal Litigation Manual Update, National Legal Services Publication. Chapters on Standing and Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Duke et al. LEGAL TACTICS, a legal guidebook for tenants and advocates

Mulroy, Elizabeth, WOMEN AS SINGLE PARENTS, CONFRONTING INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS; The Courts, the Workplace and the Housing Market: Smizik and Stone, Chapter Nine: Single Parent Families and a Right To Housing, Auburn Press, Boston 1988;

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, A Report on Mechanisms for Preserving the Long-Term Affordability of Privately Owned, Publicly Assisted Housing in Massachusetts”, co-drafter of report with the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations and the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, 1990

Editorial Board of HOUSING MATTERS, a housing publication designed for Community Groups.

HOUSING INFORMATION MEMO, a monthly guide to legislative, litigation and administrative changes in housing for Massachusetts

Litigation:

Munoz Mendoza v. Pierce - Challenged the impact of the Copley Place Project on the South End on grounds that minorities would be adversely impacted.. Result was that Tent City was proposed and eventually built as a settlement. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the minorities in the area had standing to challenge the project’s impact and seek mitigation

Ramos v. HUD - Challenged the discriminatory use of CDBG funding in The City of Holyoke. The case was settled and the government provided housing vouchers and ordered the creation of a Fair Housing Commission and corresponding plan

Dwyer v. Department of Correction - Filed civil rights suit against the Department of correction for failure to provide adequate treatment and make accommodations under the disability law for prisoners mental illness. Prisoner received damages and was six months time that the department had added to his sentence.

Handled numerous Special Education cases on behalf of special needs children and parents against school districts and at the Bureau of Special Education Appeals.

Appeared in the district court, the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination and the Department of Housing and Community Development for five years on behalf of the Somerville Housing Authority.

Provided Legal Services to thousands of low income residents for almost 25 years in areas of housing, community development, discrimination and child welfare. In the course of this work I have argued in the Court of Appeals for the First and Third Circuits, the Federal District Courts in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, as well as the State Appeals Courts and Trials courts in both states.