By Caitlyn Meisner | cmeisner@alextimes.com

Updated Sept. 26 at 11:30 a.m.: An earlier version of this article had a statement that sounded like Celianna Gunderson criticized school resource officers. She has praised them and emphasized the importance of having them in ACPS. The Times regrets the error. 

Celianna Gunderson is campaigning on political diversity as she runs for City Council as the lone Republican, joining two Independents and six Democrats seeking seats on the legislative body.

She believes that local issues like education are neither Republican, Democrat nor Independent.

“I think City Council should be nonpartisan,” Gunderson said. “I’m really excited that both the Independents are putting out that same message … flooding in Old Town, is that a Republican or a Democrat issue?”

Gunderson was born in Germany to an American father and German-Estonian mother, and they moved to the United States when Gunderson was 2- or 3-years-old. She grew up bilingually, speaking both English and German, and moved around often because of her father’s Air Force career.

Her family moved backand-forth between the U.S. and Germany during her life. When she was 16, Gunderson decided to stay in Germany to finish high school. She then received her associate’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus in Munich.

Gunderson decided she wanted to become a paralegal in intellectual property law, and attended Kaufmännische Berufsschule Stuttgart Nord – which means vocational school in English – in Stuttgart, Germany. She’s been working as a paralegal since she graduated in the 1990s.

Gunderson and her two children moved to Alexandria about 10 years ago, and have lived in different neighborhoods since the relocation. Her children are now teenagers; one graduated from Alexandria City High School and has since moved across the country, and the other is currently attending ACHS.

She said she moved to Alexandria because it reminded her of her upbringing.

“It just reminded me of [a] small town, neighbors knowing neighbors,” Gunderson reflected. “Plus [it’s] how I grew up back in the 80s in the States. … It’s a beautiful small town.”

Gunderson said she decided to run for City Council after attending an event on safety in schools where the hot topics were school resource officers, weapons abatement systems and fights at schools.

“Parents were kind of being disregarded as it wasn’t really a big deal,” she recalled. “I just started talking to more and more parents, and I said, ‘Geez, this is ridiculous, somebody’s got to do something.’ And I was like, I am somebody.”

Gunderson also worked as a substitute teacher within ACPS before the COVID-19 pandemic, then she became an instructional assistant within the special education department when school started up again.

Now, Gunderson works as an international intellectual property specialist at a firm in Old Town. The firm deals with many German clients and was seeking a native German speaker, so it was a natural fit for her.

Her main priorities, she said, are public safety, taxes and transportation. Gunderson said while she’s not an expert on every city issue, she’ll get answers for residents if elected to Council.

“I am not the expert. I know what I, as a concerned citizen [and] parent, want, but it’s also about what everybody needs,” she said. “I might not be able to give you the correct answer, but I will make darn sure that when I get on City Council, I have the right person giving me the right facts and the right ideas.”

Gunderson said if she’s elected, she wants to take an in-depth look at the city’s budget. She said some funds, like the pay raise city councilors authorized for themselves in June, may not have been a good use of city money.

“Do I think it’s cool that City Council gave themselves an 80% pay raise because I’m running for City Council now? That’s cool. However, I’m leaning more toward what they’re now giving in salary for a parttime job that could have been used somewhere else,” she said. “That could be something we’re putting into our schools for safety.”

Gunderson acknowledged that taxes for residents in the city continue to increase, and it’s not just the homeowners who are impacted. As a renter, Gunderson said she struggles to keep up.

“My rent has gone up over $100 a month, and I was already struggling to pay my rent. So, as of May, I’m paying over $100 more for my rent, and part of the reason is because the property owner is going to pass along the taxes that he has to pay,” she said.

If elected, Gunderson said she would work with a tax expert who can help address these issues in Alexandria.

“I’m not a tax expert, but I can promise that I will be working with somebody that has a better knowledge of this. I don’t mean I’m going to hire a tax person [or a] tax consultant,” Gunderson clarified. “People that are already on City Council should know a lot about the issues we’re having, so working together with them as well is going to be a big thing.”

Gunderson said Alexandria’s emphasis on putting bike lanes everywhere is misplaced.

“We have a lot of beautiful trails. … We have places for people to walk, people to ride their bikes as hobbyists, or for education or whatever,” she said. “But the amount of transportation, the amount of time and effort and cost we’re putting into those extra dedicated bike lanes … we’re not a commuter city for bicyclists.”

She also said with the addition of bike and bus lanes, dedicated car lanes are being removed, which has worsened both gridlock and pollution levels.

“My son takes a bus. I have a bicycle. I’m not opposed to biking and taking the bus,” Gunderson clarified. “Cars closer together or less car lanes [means] cars will be idling. We’re always talking about climate change and being greener and all these things. … To have the cars idling, that’s not good for pollution.”

And, Gunderson would prefer for the city to rededicate street names rather than rename them altogether. Early this year, Council voted to rededicate and rename several street names that honor Confederates.

“I am someone that believes that we shouldn’t be wiping out history. We should be educating,” she said. “People think that they’re just going to change it [the street name]. You’ve got to make sure your bank information is updated, your credit cards are updated. … All documents need to be changed. It’s a huge cost.”

She also doesn’t support City Council’s November 2023 decision to get rid of single-family zoning in the city.

“I think a person’s home is their castle, and if I had purchased a two-story house and [next to ] my two story house, [someone] built a four-story house over there, I would not be very happy anymore,” Gunderson said.

Gunderson said she’d like to focus on historic preservation of the city. This, for her, goes hand-in-hand with zoning, because she believes the city needs to work harder at keeping longtime residents from moving out of Alexandria.

“ … we’re not doing a good job at retaining those that are living here because of changes that we’re making,” Gunderson said. “… It’s almost as if we’re living somewhere where we’re not thinking about Alexandrians [and their specific needs].”