Liam Enea has some very succinct advice for Connecticut residents who might want to get involved in politics, have ideas about how communities are run, or want to see changes enacted in their town or city.
“You can just show up,” said the 24-year-old Republican elected official, who is now a member of the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals.
He won more votes than any other candidate in his town in the November election.
While Enea’s advice for involvement actually is a little more complicated than just being there, his words put the strong emphasis on other points he makes about becoming active in local towns in the state.
For example, Enea said, local meetings are not always well-attended and that means there is an opportunity for attending in person, or showing up, and making well-thought out and educated points about your ideas.
That is what Enea did as he worked toward his goal of being elected to a board that addresses one of his passions: land use and how it impacts communities and the people who live there.
Enea, whose term on the ZBA started on Dec. 1, said he started his path toward becoming an elected official while still attending Brookfield High School and became interested in the state’s Education Cost Sharing system when he learned there was a disagreement about funding.
He said the documents he needed to learn about it, such as budgets, were public and he went to town Board of Finance meetings and spoke about his concerns.
“At that age I thought I knew more than I actually did,” Enea said. “I learned a lot more about how it actually works.”
“When I care about issues, it energizes me.” he said, noting he helped revive the town’s youth commission at age 16, and also volunteered on campaigns.
Enea graduated from UConn in 2024 with a degree in resource economics earned at the School of Agriculture. His studies, he said, were inspired by his interest in land use, its natural uses, the efficient use of energy, and how free markets intersect with that. He now works at ISO New England, which serves as the region’s power grid operator, focusing on analysis.
“I enjoy that work,” he said. “[Energy] is such a big issue now.”
Enea said his interest in energy and electric rates stems in part from knowing “it is something that affects all of us at home,” including through costs, the importance of grid reliability, and the importance of preventing something like what occurred with the Enron scandal.
State Sen. Ryan Fazio said he recalled Enea broaching the subject of natural gas in 2023 and them having a discussion about his policy idea and the study that followed, and they have kept in touch since.
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“He is trying to make government work better in Brookfield and Connecticut,” said Fazio. “He is honest … in it for the right reasons. It permeates who he is.”
Fazio said he also has noted Enea is “extraordinarily polite and kind-hearted.”
“He is what local government and democracy should be,” Fazio said. “He listens. Listening is such a sense for a leader. I think Liam gets that.”
Enea’s interest in zoning stems from knowing decisions can “reverberate for generations,” his desire to protect open spaces and his recognition of the housing issues facing the state, including the difficulty younger generations see in attaining home ownership, he said.
Enea ran for a seat in 2023 by gathering signatures to get on the ballot and lost, and said “It was definitely a learning lesson in a few ways.”
Among things he said he learned about through the experience were about the lack of support for alternate tickets, fundraising, need for party unity and “getting the message out more efficiently.”
He was later appointed by the town’s first selectman as a ZBA alternate starting in January 2024, and then ran for and won the full seat this year.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, who represents Connecticut’s 30th Senate District, which includes Brookfield, said the things that stand out to him about Enea are his ability to work with both sides of the aisle and his knowledge of the importance of public service.
“Liam is highly intelligent, a great young man who cares deeply about his community,” Harding said.
Harding said he also has seen that Enea has “respect for those who came before him.”
“He is very genuine, respectful of those who have served and their vast knowledge … appreciating the experience of others,” Harding said. “He is able to balance, respect the experience around him.”
Enea said his ability to work across the aisle comes in part from the love and respect shared for the town and way of life in Connecticut.
He noted he “would say I am more a state’s rights kind of guy,” and believes states “should have control over its affairs,” and that he disagrees with the federal government targeting states that disagree with it.
About serving on the ZBA, Enea said that, “because the ZBA deals with exceptions and we have to interpret them” it is “incumbent on the board to know what is a hardship and what it not,” and the intent of the town’s regulations, and he intends to be very careful in considering decisions.
These decisions can make a powerful impact on communities, he said, pointing out as an example, that Brookfield has what is referred to as a “four corners” area where commercial businesses have congregated. This was a decision of “forefathers” to have development there, near the Still River, and natural cross points, Enea said, and the impact remains today.
Enea, who also is a musician, said he remains active with the Youth Commission out of concern about young people, especially in a town that can be conducive to isolation because it is not built to be walkable, with homes spaced far apart.
“I have always looked at the Youth Commission as kind of this open source to voice their concerns,” he said.
Fazio said he is looking forward to “see what comes in the many years beyond” as Enea continues his work.