About me

Greetings, neighbors! I’m Joe Dalaker. My wife and I have lived in Cheverly since 2005, and I’m honored to do what I can on behalf of my neighbors in Ward 4.

I view the role of councilmember as one of connection: connecting by listening to residents, connecting needs with resources, and connecting with other officials to bring about positive results for residents’ concerns. 

To be a good councilmember, I plan to:

• Listen with empathy

• Assist residents with alacrity

• Advocate on critical issues

• Help to steward town resources responsibly

• Cultivate good relationships within town and with outside entities

• Find solutions to town issues collaboratively.

I have been interested in government since childhood, in part because of my family history. My dad was born in Germany during the Third Reich, and immigrated to this country after the war as a young man because of the opportunities it offered, not simply economically but for being able to create a life of one’s choosing. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the awful experiences he went through as a child, he was not an active participant in local politics here in this country, instead viewing politics as attracting or bringing out the unpleasant side of people. I knew of others who felt the same as my dad, even though they grew up in this country.

Knowing that democratic governance was not to be taken for granted, I could not reconcile the disconnection from politics people like my dad felt with the attention and participation democracy requires, when the alternatives to a democratic form of government can be so destructive. I studied government and economics formally because I wanted to understand how political, economic, and social power is used here in the United States, and how it can be used wisely for the public good.  My education and my career with the federal government reflect that desire to understand.

• Master of Public Policy degree (M.P.P.), School of Public Policy (now the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI, May 1997.

  • Domestic policy concentration, focusing on quantitative analysis, poverty, and education.

• Bachelor of Arts degree (A.B.), Cornell University, Ithaca NY, May 1995.

  • Double-major in government and economics, with honors in government.

About this website

Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen coined an adage in website development, that one should remember site visitors will spend most of their time on websites other than one’s own. I actively encourage that — this website is in no way a replacement for official information from the Town of Cheverly, nor for any other government entity. Its intended audience is residents of Cheverly, Maryland generally and Ward 4 specifically, though others might find the information useful.

Its purpose is to provide residents and other interested persons with concise information about what I am working on, an overview of topics receiving public attention and resources, and links to other sites readers may find useful. Because this website is intended to be concise, it is necessarily incomplete. Its value, hopefully, will be in helping readers get oriented quickly on public affairs in town and direct them to additional information elsewhere.

Ultimately, I hope that readers, wherever they live, will feel more curious about and connected to their community. For Ward 4 residents, this site has the additional purpose of helping them make informed opinions on their town government and to ask questions, provide feedback, and exercise oversight of their town government accordingly.

While I anticipate that I will focus on posting factual information, such as notifications about town events and context about town policy issues, any opinions expressed in this site are strictly my own.