We sadly mourn the sudden passing on Saturday of LIHI co-founder and longtime Washington State Representative and Speaker of the House Frank Chopp. He was age 71 and died of cardiac arrest at home.
I first met Frank when he was the Executive Director (1983 to 2000) of the Fremont Public Association (FPA), now known as Solid Ground. I was working at the Seattle City Council for former Council President Paul Kraabel and Frank and human services advocates would pile into our office asking the city to fund survival services and basic needs. In 1987 I started working for Frank and established the FPA's Housing Development Department. This was later merged into LIHI in 1991 and incorporated as a separate housing nonprofit with Frank as a co-founder.
LIHI was set up to address the urgent need for low-income housing and to find creative solutions to the homelessness crisis. Frank became LIHI's board president and served on the board until 1994 when he was elected to the state legislature.
Frank was the best boss and mentor I ever had. His passion for helping others, for embracing housing as a human right, and for making "good trouble" got results and inspired LIHI staff and board to carry out our mission.
Frank was elected as the state representative for Seattle’s 43rd District. His leadership and coalition-building skills quickly propelled him to the role of Co-Speaker of the House in 1999, and he became the sole Speaker in 2002. He led the Washington State House of Representatives for nearly two decades, from 1999 to 2019, marking one of the longest tenures as a state legislative Speaker in U.S. history.
Frank championed affordable housing, healthcare, and social services. He did the most to bring affordable housing to the top of the state’s agenda. Frank passionately led the significant expansion of the Housing Trust Fund, allocating over $2 billion to build and preserve housing for more than 58,000 families across the state. Believing that housing for people who are sick, frail, or vulnerable should be prescribed—just like medicine is prescribed—Frank created the landmark bill that created the state’s Apple Health and Home Program. He also wrote legislation that requires Sound Transit to set aside 80% of its surplus property for low income TOD housing.
Frank led the First Things First Coaltion and the Yes for Homes campaign that resulted in passage of the Seattle Housing Levy. He was a leader in passing the Covenant Homeownership Act which is embraced as a model nationally for righting the wrongs from past real estate practices that discriminated against Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders from becoming homeowners. The Act helps with down payment assistance and closing costs for first-time homebuyers.
He was a big supporter of Social Housing to provide mixed-income housing and was thrilled by the recent vote on Prop 1A to make it a reality in Seattle. Frank was a big supporter of tiny house villages and permanent supportive housing to get thousands of unsheltered people indoors.
Frank Chopp was truly a Housing Hero. He could not walk or drive by a vacant property without thinking of its use for affordable housing. An example of this was LIHI's Sand Point Cottages in Magnuson Park, located on a parcel of land owned by the City of Seattle that Frank had passed by hundreds of times. He encouraged LIHI to expand the tiny house village concept to a cottage community using this idyllic park setting. Frank worked with the City Council and Mayor to lease the land to LIHI. Some cottages were built modularly by students over the summer in a pre-apprenticeship training program. Frank was passionate about pathways for youths to access good-paying jobs in the construction field.
Frank leaves behind a remarkable legacy. We will miss him so much. LIHI will continue our work in his honor. We express our deepest sorrow to his family: Nancy Long, Ellie and Narayan.
Peace and Love,
Sharon Lee
Executive Director
Tributes and remembrances that were assembled in honor of Frank's retirement last year: Frank's Kudosboard.
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Deepest condolences on behalf of Face to Many.