Pulaski County Deserves A Judge Who Protects People, Not Developers. Elect Wendell Griffen

Pulaski County Deserves A Judge Who Protects People, Not Developers. Elect Wendell Griffen.

Pulaski County is facing a threat that families did not create and should never have been forced to face alone. When the state removed protections last spring, it opened the door to noxious land use. That means industrial projects that pollute the air, contaminate groundwater, create dangerous traffic patterns, or place heavy industrial operations next to homes, churches, and schools. These are developments that damage property values, endanger public health, and change entire communities overnight.

Instead of fighting back, County Judge Barry Hyde did nothing while residents in the outskirts of Little Rock and North Little Rock lost their safeguards. Even after the quorum court passed a temporary moratorium, five months went by without any action from his office to restore the old protections or create new ones.

Then Barry Hyde attempted to push a countywide zoning law that his own planning department never recommended and that ignored a two year, half million dollar study. It caused immediate outrage and had to be withdrawn, and he still will not say who wrote it.

In the middle of this crisis, Judge Wendell Griffen has been the one demanding transparency and real protection for the public. He has stood against noxious land use and has called for the county to put people before developers.

What follows is Judge Wendell Griffen’s message to the people of Pulaski County:

"Last spring, the state legislature passed a law that removed protections from noxious land use for people with property in the outskirts of little Rock and North Little Rock. Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde did nothing to fight that law after the law was passed. Barry Hyde did nothing to replace the protections that the law provided. For five months since the quorum court passed an ordinance establishing a moratorium on noxious land use development. Because Barry Hyde didn't do anything for five months, Barry Hyde has done nothing to restore the old protections.

Nor has he done anything to create a new law from the county that would protect the people living in the extraterritorial jurisdictions of little Rock and North Little Rock. Instead, on the 25th of November, Barry Hyde introduced a land use zoning law that covers the whole county that had never been considered, discussed, or even mentioned by his own planning department. Despite a two year study that the firm had done on land use planning, for which the county paid half $1 million. Barry had failed to protect Pulaski County.

Barry Hyde does not want to tell us who drafted the land use law. He sneaked before the quorum court, but had to pull down because of great controversy around it. And Barry Hyde wants to be reelected. You have a choice. My name is Wendell Griffen. I'm running for county judge. I will be forthright with you. I will listen to you. And I have been fighting to protect people from the noxious land use that very hard. Seems all too willing to allow to happen.

Go to my website at http://griffen4pulaskicounty.org to learn more about me and learn how to support my campaign. Early voting begins on February 17th. Election day is March 3rd. I'm asking for your vote. Together, let's protect Pulaski County. Because Barry Hyde won't and hasn't. Thank you."

ALL Power to The People.