27-Year-Old Ryan Knapp Joins Legislative Council

"I've always been told a degree in engineering is a degree in problem solving," says Ryan Knapp.

He earned his degree in engineering from Syracuse University, where he graduated with honors, and went to work as a mechanical engineer in Oxford. Now he'll have another chance to put his problem-solving skills to use.

Knapp took his seat on the Legislative Council Wednesday night after being sworn in during a brief meeting of the council following the town meeting vote on the Sandy Hook School project.

His family members, both Knapps and Hanlons, have a long history in Newtown government, starting with his great-grandmother.

"[First Selectman] Pat Llodra told me earlier she ran against my grandmother for a  Board of Education seat in the '70s," he says.

Llodra remembers Maude Knapp.

"It must have been -- oh, 1975," she says. "It was one of the first times in the history of the town both the Republicans and Democrats offered more than one candidate for a single position. There was a choice for that one seat, and Maude Knapp and I were the two Republican candidates."

Knapp himself bought his first house about a year ago, and decided he wanted to get involved with Newtown governance "now that I'm paying property tax."

"And then an opening came up," he says.

Kathy Fetchick left the Legislative Council and joined the Board of Education, and Ryan interviewed for her position in the first district. He will defend that seat in elections this fall.

"He's got an impressive resume," Legislative Council chair Jeff Capeci told Patch. "He seems like he's willing to do the hard work necessary of him. He was very appealing for those reasons to the Republicans, I'm sure."

In the meantime, Knapp says he's interested in putting his problem-solving skills to use.

"I'd like to get involved in budgets," he says. "Specifically, I'd like to have input on the Board of Education budget. I'm interested in some difference ordinance committees -- really, any way I can help out. But I know, being the new guy, that you don't get to pick."