
By Kristina Lopez
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Daniel Mackey’s unsuccessful run for a seat on the Howard County Board of Education last year has kindled in him greater passion for his ideas to spend public dollars on such educational needs as opening vocational-technical schools.
“I have a lot of respect for the people who I ran against for the board of ed,” Mackey told the Baltimore Watchdog, “and they also have respect for me, so they understood that the ideas my campaign was championing were good ones. I see that they are working on implementing those ideas themselves.”
The 26-year-old superintendent of Gilbane Building Co. recently discussed challenges the county school system face, such as $500 million in deferred maintenance for projects. The projects include HVAC consistencies, planned additions to institutional structures, and renovations of public and private school buildings, he said. These and other needs prompted Mackey to seek a seat on the Board of Education.
With his loss, however, Mackey said that he has seen implementation of his ideas throughout many meetings and by the members who ran alongside him in the election. Some of his ideas have formed a blueprint for how the county school system has begun to rectify public policy.

Education officials did not respond to efforts by the Baltimore Watchdog to confirm Mackey’s claims.
“I like to think that driving the narrative in this direction kind of pushed the school system to drive the narrative even further,” said Mackey, explaining how some of his ideas have resonated with the board.
Mackey said he also has benefited from the many connections he’s made during his campaign for the Board of Education. Although, he will not run in the 2020 election, Mackey suggested he may possibly return to the campaign field for the 2022 election.
“Now I know so many elected officials in the county on first-name basis,” he said. “It’s nice to have a seat at the table from a citizen’s public policy perspective. I can pick up the phone and actually talk to the people who are responsible for making some of these decisions.”
Mackey’s campaign revolved around several points of action, with one of the biggest being his push for vocational technical schools in Howard County. His point has been that since the public-school system drives the narrative that success cannot be achieved without a higher education, officials must provide outlets for students not bound for college.
“What gives me hope is that the people that are out there in the community are doing strong work and are encouraging students coming up in the school system,” said Mackey. “These people are out in the community fighting hard every day to make sure these kids are getting an equal opportunity and making sure their students are growing and learning.”
Higher education helped propel Mackey into politics. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. Mackey said he relies heavily on his knowledge from his degree to drive such social and economic disparity into better learning opportunities for public school students.
“I think it would be beneficial for the people of Howard County to have somebody on the board who can make sure that the capital dollars are going towards physical investments for the school system and are being spent as efficiently as possible to try to reduce that deferred maintenance,” said Mackey, adding that “as a construction manager, I have always been somebody who has sought to do things that add value to the community and that’s part of the reason I ran for the board of ed last year.”
Zach Portnoff offered a different perspective about the race, admitting that “not everyone was on board immediately” for Mackey.
“People began to rally around him when videos of his fiery testimony to the Howard County Board of Education started to surface,” explained Portnoff, who is on the executive board of the same fraternity as Mackey.
In adjusting his role from candidate to advocate, Mackey said he presses for citizens in the community to fight for the equality of students by challenging the school system. Despite recent haste and outburst over concerns and policies of redistricting and student involvement, the urge for unity is now stronger than ever, he said.
Mackey said he pushes for solidarity, honesty, and forwardness within the County Board to make a better school system for the students involved.
The tactics Mackey used during the campaign and now with the current board stem from his days working with the campus fraternity, said Joseph Ayoub, a fraternity brother.
“These skills translated into Danny’s Board of Education campaign where Danny was very active in listening to different voices and acting decisively to benefit the whole community,” said Ayoub. “Danny put the needs of parents and students at the forefront of his efforts and proposed real solutions to benefit public school families.”
John Wright, another fraternity executive board member at UMD, pointed to Mackey’s community interests.
“During his senior year of college, Danny went above and beyond to speak during Board of Education meetings on topics that meant a lot to him and ones he thought we have a larger impact on the community as a whole,” said Wright.
Wright added that “despite his relatively young age and comments from those with other viewpoints, Danny has never been deterred or faltered in voicing his opinion on critical issues.”
Being exposed to tradesmen, young adults, and students nearly every day, Mackey said he sought to see that there should be equal opportunity for all levels of education. At the high school level, Mackey said he promotes experience and opportunities for those who did not seek out higher education, whether it be because of socioeconomic status or other determinants.
A vocational technical institution would provide the ideal solution, added supporters.
“I work with very skilled tradesmen every day and I continue to meet more and more of them who are successful and make a lot of money who never went to college,” said Mackey.
As far as the deferred maintenance issue, Mackey offered insight into that too. Attending Wilde Lake High School in Howard County, Mackey said he is familiar with the county’s school system and campaigned for a better community and the means in which he could get it done. Being a superintendent at Gilbane for two and a half years, Mackey said he has gained experience and expertise in scheduling, managing, and working on site of heavy-duty construction projects that adds to his knowledge of how deferred maintenance and capital projects within the school system works.
Mackey said he credits his father for his resilience and perseverance. Bob Mackey is also an engineer who has played a key role in his son’s education, passion to serve the community and interest in public policy.
Another major influence in his political interests rest with Allan Kittleman, a former Howard County Executive, who has been by Mackey’s side on multiple accounts because he supports Mackey’s ideas.
Giving credit to engineering school, Mackey added that not only are construction and engineering based on learning how to build buildings and additions, but, in large part, consist of learning how to solve complex problems.
“You have financial problems, infrastructural problems, student performance problems, and all of these issues are very intimately related and are essentially just large complex problems that I found were not being adequately addressed by the typical way of thinking,” said Mackey. “I like to think that no matter what happens in the community that we will be all right if we stand together for these issues.”