As the Howard County Council prepares to spend at least $700,000 on renovations to its meeting space — the Banneker room in the George Howard Building — one council member is calling the spending “silly.”

Vice Chair Opel Jones, a Democrat who represents District 2, said the project is unnecessary, especially amid a tight budget year that led the county to cut teacher positions and school programs. He said the $700,000 should instead be funneled to the school system, which faced a $20 million budget gap in fiscal 2026.

If the county had a surplus of money, it would be different, but amid a federal government shutdown, with some county residents not getting paid and others out of a job, the last thing the County Council needs to spend money on is renovations, Jones said.

“It just doesn’

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