26-year-old Columbia Council candidate wants more millennials in local government
Columbia City Council doesn’t look much like Dylan Gunnels, a 26-year-old who works at a nonprofit serving refugees.
So, he’s running for Columbia City Council.
Gunnels, a north Columbia resident, plans to challenge sitting Councilman Howard Duvall for one of the city’s two at-large council seats. Duvall plans to run for re-election on the Nov. 5, 2019, ballot.
“If we want millennials to stay, we need to make sure millennials feel represented” in local government, Gunnels said. “Lately, my running phrase has been that Columbia is pregnant. I really think that this city is bursting at the seams with a lot of potential. We’re starting to see the growth of that right now.”
Similarly to others who have announced their intentions to run for City Council, Gunnels said he’s particularly concerned about infrastructure and economic development in the city.
“Why does (development) not seem to be happening at the rate” of other regional cities, “and what’s standing in the way?” Gunnels said. “How do we get to a place where we’re competing with those other places but we’re not trying to be Charlotte or Raleigh or Atlanta?”
Gunnels works for Lutheran Services Carolinas coordinating services for refugees, and he also manages a financial literacy business. He is a member of the 2019 Leadership Columbia class and is active in the local faith community.
A native of Aiken, Gunnels studied religion at Charleston Southern University and moved to Columbia in 2015.
He is a young, openly gay man, two qualities that are not often represented in Columbia politics.
Official candidate filing for City Council has not yet opened.
Three council seats are up for election on Nov. 5, 2019: Moe Baddourah’s District 3 seat, Ed McDowell’s District 2 seat and Howard Duvall’s at-large seat.
Two candidates already have emerged to challenge Baddourah: John Loveday and Will Brennan.
City Council elections are non-partisan, meaning candidates do not run under any political party affiliation.
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
