Congressional staffer profile: Dallas Gerber went from the shale boom to Shelly’s smoke-filled back room

Hometown: Coatesville, Pa.

Alma Mater: Ohio State Univerisity

Age: 32

—-

Washington Examiner: When did you start working in Washington?

Gerber: I got to D.C. about two years ago, actually. But I have been working for Congressman Gibbs since 2010.

Washington Examiner: So, you’ve worked just with Gibbs?

Gerber: I worked a couple of campaigns between graduation and Congressman Gibbs, and then worked on the 2010 campaign and I’ve been with him ever since.

Washington Examiner: What did you do for the Gibbs campaign, and how did that transition into what you are doing now as a spokesman?

Gerber: I started off as a field director, field staff on the campaign in 2010, worked in our district office as a field rep and eventually became district director and worked with all the local stakeholders as far as the chambers of commerce and local governments and press. Coming here two years ago as communications director was sort of a natural fit. Working with reporters is about building relationships, as much as it is with chambers of commerce and local governments.

Washington Examiner: Is there any particular challenge working as comms director compared to working on the campaign?

Gerber: They’re different in their own rights. But I don’t see one as being more challenging than the other. I like being able to wear jeans on the campaign. [Off the campaign], we are a no-jeans office.

Washington Examiner: What about on the issues? Gibbs is from Ohio, you’re from Pennsylvania. Do you see any overlap on issues between the two states?

Gerber: Absolutely. Agriculture is pretty much in both states. And in the last few years, the energy sector has grown and become more important in both states. It’s something I don’t think you realize until you are either in business or seeing it from inside government, how important appropriate and reasonable regulations are.

I couldn’t say it any better than Congressman Gibbs does. When a business owner sees a new regulation come across their desk, they should be able to say this makes sense … rather than asking why do we have to do this?

Washington Examiner: Trump made it a point to restore jobs in Ohio during the campaign. Do you think he is making good on his promises?

Gerber: It’s still early on in the administration. But, especially with the executive orders, whether its [EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule] or the CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy vehicle] standards that was revised last week, I think he really is making good on his promises.

Washington Examiner: What about on coal?

Gerber: Absolutely. When he signed the CRA [repealing an Obama-era midnight rule on coal mining] a few weeks back … he is keeping his promises to the coal industry and the workers that were hurt by the war on coal. I have seen some articles floating around, some emails, that they are already seeing some benefits with the industry starting back up now.

Obviously, coal is important to Ohio. It’s a huge part of where we get our energy from, it’s a reliable source … We aren’t going to be able to restart factories and bring more people back to work without affordable energy.

Washington Examiner: What do you like to do in your off time as a distraction from work?

Gerber: My wife and I like to look for restaurants. One thing that people tend to do, they find three or four restaurants initially in their first few weeks here. And they kind of stick to that. We are trying to broaden our horizons as far as our food experience. So while we’re trying to find new restaurants, we live 10 minutes away from the zoo. And we love going there. Not necessarily every weekend, but we just like going to the zoo, checking out the animals. It’s a nice walk up the hill.

Washington Examiner: What restaurants are you finding? What do you like the most?

Gerber: I always like a good burger. Just a good medium rare burger. We just went to a place last night in Dupont Circle called Firefly with a tremendous burger there. It’s on New Hampshire. It’s in a hotel called Madera.

Washington Examiner: Are you trying anything more exotic than hamburgers?

Gerber: I have not had a bad piece of sushi at a few places in the area. Tono Sushi up by Woodley. Sushi happy hour at Hamilton’s is awesome. And I have plenty of friends from Ohio, and whenever they’re in town I always try to take them to Shelly’s [Back Room] for a cigar.

Washington Examiner: You like going to Shelly’s?

Gerber: I love it. I hate my dry cleaning bill, but I love Shelly’s.

Washington Examiner: How long have you been married?

Gerber: Three years.

Washington Examiner: How have you experienced the city overall?

Gerber: I absolutely love it. I take Metro to work from home every day. Other than the hiccups, it’s been pretty good. I really do enjoy living in the city. I love the Woodley Park and Dupont Circle neighborhood. It’s relatively quiet compared to other parts of the city. When we first moved here, we were at Shady Grove. That commute was a bear.

I always try to get here early enough so I am not killed by the rush hour. Our office opens at 8:30 a.m. I try to get here by 8.

Washington Examiner: So you are managing the Metro hiccups, track work and delays? How are you doing that?

Gerber: I rely on … two or three Twitter accounts. Both the official Metro rail info. And then a couple of other non-official ones that may be critical of WMATA. I always check that before I am leaving to make sure I buy myself some time.

In two years here, I’ve had to take an Uber maybe twice [due to Metro shutdowns].

Don’t get me wrong, there have been problems. I have just been fortunate enough to avoid them. I think that’s really what it comes down to. I’ve been able to either plan or avoid them. It definitely has its issues, but I’ve been able to avoid them.

Washington Examiner: What would you recommend to Metro users?

Gerber: I get my best information first thing in the morning. I’ll wake up at 6 a.m. and by 6:30 I’ve checked @metrorailinfo to see if there have been any unexpected delays, either construction overnight, or maybe there is an issue in the morning. And then plan accordingly.

I’ve noticed that a lot of single tracking occurs between Van Ness and Dupont Circle. On a couple of occasions, instead of getting on at Woodley, I’ll get on at Dupont Circle.

If you are in a physical location where you have options as far as where to get on, checking where there are single-tracking issues or disabled trains, or whatever it might be. Don’t be afraid to walk an extra five or 10 minutes to get beyond it in the system.