Ryan W. Knapp

05/27/2026

Congratulations Mitch Bolinsky!

05/18/2026

A good perspective on tomorrow’s referendum:

“Years ago, when I was a member and Chair of the Board of Education, several times the Legislative Council made reductions of $400,000 or more to our requested budgets which were about 1/3 the size of the current one. We were educating about the same number of students as now and with good results, but of course we had fewer high salaried administrators.

Concerning the Selectmen’s budget, the Council only reduced half the cost of the police officer that they along with the Board of Finance originally added despite the Selectmen’s reduction of the new officer. Plus, they foolishly reduced the road budget by $125,000. They made a few other cuts to reach the same $400,000 reduction to a much smaller budget than the Board of Education’s.”

-Herb Rosenthal

To The Editor: The Legislative Council has essentially ignored the NO vote by Newtown residents at the last referendum. The Council’s $400,000 reduction to the large increase in the $96,000,000 Boar...

05/14/2026

“The recent confusion surrounding the bonding approval item left off the referendum highlights the need for greater clarity around Newtown’s established procedures for capital projects. It seems some people were relying on workarounds rather than following official actions documented in the public record.”

To The Editor: The recent confusion surrounding the bonding approval item left off the referendum highlights the need for greater clarity around Newtown’s established procedures for capital projects....

04/29/2026

It seems the voters shared the concerns of the Republican members of the Legislative Council. Not just spending, but also how the funds are being spent - growing government and bureaucracy.

‼️‼️Tonight, Newtown voters sent a clear and unmistakable message: endless, compounding budget increases without serious spending reform are not acceptable. They are not sustainable for working families, seniors on fixed incomes, or any taxpayer being told to do more with less.

A “No” vote is not a rejection of Newtown or our schools. It is a rejection of business-as-usual budgeting. It is a demand that our leaders finally listen, sharpen their pencils, and deliver a budget that respects taxpayers as much as it does spending priorities.

Now the real work begins: managing growth responsibly, controlling costs, and protecting the financial well-being of every Newtown resident while maintaining the quality services our community deserves.

I hope the Board of Education and the First Selectman have heard the voters loud and clear: these tax increases must stop. We cannot keep treating taxpayers like an endless ATM.

Your Republican Legislative Council members, including myself, voted against these budgets because we knew they were not sustainable and not fair to taxpayers. This year's referendum result proves we were right to stand our ground.

It’s time for real fiscal discipline in Newtown.‼️‼️

04/28/2026

Polls are open until 8pm, vote at the middle school!

VOTE TODAY! Polls are open until 8pm, everyone votes at Newtown Middle School

04/25/2026

Bad bills are getting rammed through because CT Legislative Dems (like Bob Duff below) are unaccountable and have been gaining seats since 2016.

I asked Senator Ryan Fazio a simple question, what is he going to do differently than State Senate Republicans whos numbers have been shrinking and their voices marginalized, and if he has a formula to win in blue districts - why isn’t he sharing it with his caucus members?

His answer was the same platitudes about values, which I noted was almost verbatim what another state senator had said to me. My question was why the messaging isnt getting through and if he has a strategy to connect with voters, it sure would have been nice to deploy before all this legislation got passed. I even went and spoke with him in the hall, clarifying I was not asking what his message is, but what his plan is to get that message out as his caucus isn’t and the result is they can’t appeal to moderate Dems and stop bad bills anymore (which Im admittedly very frustrated about.)

Let’s be honest, all these bills were effectively passed in Nov 2024, and cemented with election results in Nov 2025. The Dems in Hartford don’t care about public testimony because they expect no consequences come election time. They don’t even consider Republican amendments - It’s a joke they openly laugh about. Now Fazio’s district will probably go blue, increasing their majority and rewarding their hubris.

One party rule means everything is negotiated behind closed doors and minority voices are shut out of the process. I told Ryan, having volunteered on legislative campaigns for a decade and a half, I feel there is an industry of the same consultants who recycle the very same campaigns over and over again, and win or lose, they get their $ from Clean Elections Funding either way. It’s Einstein’s definition of insanity. That formula will result in another Lamont term with even more support in the legislature.

I like Fazio, but if CT Senate Rs can’t hold enough seats in the Senate to stop bad bills, what is a member of their caucus going to do differently to get his message out and win a state wide race to unseat an incumbent Gov? Im still waiting for an answer that will give me confidence it’s a plan to win and not just lose with dignity.

04/16/2026

Allowing small businesses and entrepreneurs to form or join groups and reduce risk would allow access to good health insurance at more affordable rates, comparable with benefits offered at big corporations. This is something I’ve often discussed with my friends who own a small resturant, why can’t they pool with other similar businesses to buy insurance together? Or buy it through the chamber of commerce, or at Resturant Depot? It makes too much sense.

Thank you Rep. Mitch Bolinsky and Marty Foncello State Rep 107th for looking out for small businesses and prioritizing creative solutions for affordable health insurance that aren’t just taxpayer funded subsidies. If only more of your colleagues shared your common sense.

CBIA issued the following response to Monday's Appropriations Committee vote rejecting a transformative small business healthcare bill.

04/02/2026

CT’s population decline is self inflicted

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon blamed excessive zoning laws and permitting delays for making construction costs "50% higher" and crippling affordable housing. On taxes, he warned high state taxes are driving a "huge exodus" from blue states to red.

03/13/2026

Meanwhile those victimized have to live with their trauma being memory holed.

Over 150,000 criminal records have been expunged due to the Clean Slate law in Connecticut, experts said on Wednesday.

02/13/2026

"Voters elect the first selectman to run the town, not to delegate that responsibility. If we want to change to a hired administration model, that should be done democratically through charter revision before anyone is hired so the voters can have a say in how our Town is governed, and it should not start until the following term. Hiring an operations manager in this budget cycle is putting the cart before the horse and taking away the voters’ input into our form of government as intended under Home Rule."

A joint letter from Philip Carroll and I.

To The Editor, Newtown has traditionally been managed by an elected first selectman. While our population has remained relatively flat for the last twenty years, over that time support roles such as ...