791-21, Jan. 2020
R. Rex Parris a Far-Sighted U.S. Mayor Persuades eBus Maker of China into home city
Frank Feb, 13, 2014 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
http://kwcg.ca/bbs/home.php?mod=space&uid=61910&do=blog&id=3865
[Key Points] As a home city's Mayor of the Lancaster, the United States, Mr. R. Rex Parris is not like other Mayors that simply lecture everywhere to attract the Riches, but, with a clear objective to select and invite good businesses, by paying repeatedly visiting and patiently persuading until succeeded. After the invited business came to his city, he still also, like that of nanny taking care the baby, to eliminate all factors that may harm the business' survival, especially the obstacles in Lancaster's administrative procedures, to ensure the business healthy running.
He also smartly pays the homeless free one-way tickets out of his home city, and trying to keep Mongols motorcycle club out of city due to those mindless harm to society, and more.
Mayor R. Rex Parris has set up a good model for the Mayor Brenda Halloran of Waterloo city, Ontario, Canada, which is how to invite good businesses into Waterloo city and provide thoughtful support in every possible for them health development.
--- Frank May, 19, 2014 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Today afternoon, Feb, 13, 2014, I was moved by the smart efforts of far-sighted Mr. R. Rex Parris, the current Mayor of the Lancaster City of the United States.
Starting in August 2009, with the focus of the 100% Renewable Energy for his hometown city, Mayor R. Rex Parris with many trips to China to lobby and take practical action to eliminate obstacles in Lancaster's administrative procedures to help China-based technology and manufacturing giant BYD, one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced battery technology into Lancaster, a desert City to establish bus assembly plant, and battery manufacturing plant.
The article <BYD to open first US plant in California> reports with that, the Electric Bus equiped with BYD solar panels, LED lighting and energy-efficient technologies, a single charge can support eBus running over 248 kilometers, and that is highest among the eBuses world widely.
Zero-emissions bus comes with high-tech and investment together to create jobs for own citizen and revenue for governing the city of own ruling.
For a mayor, is there any other more better cost-effective business than such a smrt transaction on the world?
However, as saying as that there is no free lunch in the world, such a sure win good deal is not readily available at the fingertips of the Mayor R. Rex Parris, it is that his sincerely persuading with the identity of a mayor and a lawyer promotes BYD to build factories confidently in the U.S. - a great country but filled with great ridiculous, from the opposite side of the Earth with the completely different cultural background.
The reason for specially mentioning the identity of the lawyer of Mr. R. Rex Parrisis that I've read some reports, for the enterprises of the Eastern countries entering Western countries, most worried about is that legal loophole is being misused indiscriminately, such as that, endless nonsense of legal supported Labor Unions, endless nonsense of legal spoiled labors with no proper work ethic, endless nonsensical litigation of some lawyers with the purpose of greedy by taking legitimate enterprises as preys, and more, such as, the Patent Troll.
Although, in western countries, the most of Labor Unions, the majority of workers and the most of lawyers are good with rational ethic, but, it is inevitable there someunexpected nonsensical litigation, and that may easily destroy a good running business, especially in the start stage.
Being trapped in the democratic cage, the President Obama may only be able to call on that, please Made in the United Sates of America with providing tax deductible and policy concessions, but he is no ability to restrain the legal loophole to be misused to destroy businesses, with the help of the powerful weapon of freedom,human rights and more.
The identity of the lawyer has provided a special power for Mr. R. Rex Parris to be a powerful Mayor, since that, under his nose, there is no one able to freely play pranks legal game to offset the great efforts that he did for his hometown city.
It is said that BYD has peaceful calmed down a nonsense lawsuit. I think, for solving this legal trouble, more or less, there are the contribution of the lawyor Mayor. Also, I think that, Mayor R. Rex Parris has enough smart and legal enperience to calm down any nonsense of any mindless people against legitimate enterprises.
Every one has known that, as I mentioned above, the United States is a great country but filled with great ridiculous, the Holy freedom and human rights have been misused as the umbrella to encourage the mindless to play legal pranks freely, especially to be taken as a means for robbing money legally by some over smart people.
A few years ago, there was the report that obesity U.S. young man did not consider to limit own food intaking, but instaed, he sued food provider.
Obviously, it is the absurd political and legal to have bred the absurd ideological of its national.
Besides the success of the settlement of BYD, Mayor R. Rex Parris has made great many other achievements for his hometown city with great good.
If you read the articles that I reprinted below, you'll understand why I am so excited to write this article with such exciting wording, and from that I have written in the article, you would share my uncontrollable exciting mood.
The facts made me produced a new idea of that only a rational man can do a rational Mayor, and only a rational Mayor can do a rational Mayor job.
Please watch video <BYD Press Conference 5.1.13 | City of Lancaster>, you'll be touched by the passionate speech of the Mayor R. Rex Parris.
While other speakers concerning about the economic development and the job creation with the limited vision locally, but Mayor R. Rex Parris was, with full of exciting passion on the Zero-emissions eBus, further concerning about the elimination of carbon emissions and the reduction of greenhouse effect with a broadervision globally. When talking about the eBus, Mayor R. Rex Parris shows unspeakable exciting with rich emotions. I deeply felt that, in his eyes, the Zero-emissions eBus is the start toward a world with no pollution and that has been the long hope of this rational gentleman, and also that demonstrates his inner world - his philosophy of life. The video gave me impession of that, only the person with a broader vision and a stronger passion as that of Mayor R. Rex Parris will have the energy and the desire to fervently dedicate to the society with more concerning about the interest of the public, lesser concerning for oneself. The video gave me impession of that, only the Mayor who is as smart as that of Mayor R. Rex Parris can realize that, ecnomic development is important, but that should not be exchanged by damaging human living environment.
The outstanding contribution of Mayor R. Rex Parris shows the smart vision of the citizen of the Lancaster city with smart use of their votes and democratic rights to have elected a smart Mayor, and the smart Mayor works harder with full smart making great good as return.
Mayor's election, in essence, is to find a fully mature brain. Only the fully mature brain can do a creative correct mayor-job to create a happy life for their citizens and more. Thereby to avoid the immature brain as Mayors to corrupt, to embezzle and only concern how to enjoy themselves without the concern of their cities and the lives of their citizen.
Please look at that what happened in the city of Motor City Detroit, and the city of the New Orleans, whether it is the sorriness of the democracy, or the ignorance of the city's voters. Facing with increasingly disappointing world, rational people should not be passively submissiveness, but should positively take action to save own life. Thanks modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging for revealing the facts of those antisocial criminals having defects in their brain structure, their amygdala and insula – the regions of the brain that contribute to emotion perception, empathy and recognising were strikingly smaller than that of normal people. That means the brain cells are less in taking responsible for controlling the grief and sympathy, so that they have no feeling of guilt when harm to others. Accordingly, we can infer that the big differences of the behaviors from people to people are caused by the big differences in the brains' development maturity. Even if those normal people who do not have antisocial tendencies, but everyone is different in the personality. Some people rational, some people radical, some people selfless, some people extremely selfish, and more. That is the main reason that the city of the Motor City Detroit was ruined, and the city of the Lancaster is stepping towards prosperity, tracing the essence, that is all from the brains' quality of the Mayors. Basing on my view, please broaden our field of vision from a city, to the whole country afar, to the whole world afar, we would easily insight the reason that why our world has been declining continuously. In view of the cruel realities, I deeply believed that it is time to Kick Out Brain-defective Politicians by MRI Scan. Please forget the faith, please forget the moral, please concerns the differences in the structural maturity of the brains. Mayor R. Rex Parris has established a mirror for us, a mirror to help us to see through the quality of a candidate for mayor, and a mirror to help us to choose a competent mayor. More importantly, Mayor R. Rex Parris has established a mirror for those incumbent Mayors globally - how to be a rational competent mayor. Thanks rational Mayor R. Rex Parris gave me a ray of light in this increasingly darking world that has been worsening by the mindless governing. Dear Mayor R. Rex Parris, thank you very much.
I reproduce some Videos and articles that introduce about the Mayor R. Rex Parris and the eBuses Maker - BYD as follow to facilitate for reading.
--- Frank Li Afternoon, Feb, 13, 2014 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
MAYOR R. REX PARRIS
| Elected Mayor: | April 2008 |
| Re-elected Mayor: | April 2010, April 2012, and April 2016 |
| Term Expires: | April 2020 |
R. Rex Parris is a Lancaster, California native who was first elected as Mayor in 2008. Currently serving his fourth term, Parris’ leadership revolves around the overall well-being of Lancaster residents, with emphasis on public safety, crime reduction, community health and wellness, as well as community and civic pride; all of which have resonated well among citizens and constituents, in addition to gaining Parris nationwide recognition.
Upon taking office, Mayor Parris embarked on a mission to dramatically reduce Lancaster’s crime rate. As a result of his steadfast resolve, the City’s crime rate plummeted nearly 40% during his first three years in office.
Community health and wellness issues are also a priority, having engaged Parris to work aggressively with City staff, the medical community, and faith-based organizations in Lancaster to foster a three-pronged approach to tackling total-health problems facing high-needs neighborhoods. The result is the addition of numerous Neighborhood Impact Homes, Wellness Homes and Community Gardens throughout the City. A new Lancaster Health District is also being cultivated to integrate healthcare services with active lifestyle amenities centered within a high-quality, mixed-use, health-oriented development.
Focused on community engagement, Parris was a catalyst for Lancaster’s downtown renaissance, which completely transformed the heart of the City into a massive cultural epicenter concentrated around The BLVD. The BLVD, which is home to the Lancaster Performing Arts Center (LPAC) and Museum of Art and History (MOAH), hosts a number of annual mega-events such as the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix; as well as seasonal outdoor concerts, a weekly year-round farmers market, and a unique array of shopping and dining venues. The BLVD experience has contributed to Lancaster’s branding as a “Destination for the Senses.”
Demonstrating the City’s municipal fortitude and progressiveness, Parris has been at the forefront of repositioning Lancaster as a global leader in the field of alternative energy. His vision of making Lancaster the Alternative Energy Capital of the World, and his various successes in this endeavor, has garnered worldwide media attention. Under his auspices, Parris has led the City into forward-thinking unique partnerships with innovative organizations from all over the world. In August 2009, eSolar completed its 20-acre 5MW solar project in Lancaster, unveiling the nation’s first solar thermal power tower plant. China-based technology and manufacturing giant Build Your Dreams (BYD), one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced battery technology, was paired with KB Home, one of the nation’s premier homebuilders, to create a never-before-attempted affordable solar-energy residential community. These relationships led to the establishment of many more residential solar communities and municipal solar ordinances, as well as Lancaster becoming home to BYD’s first North American electric bus manufacturing plant and battery storage facility.
While these and many other substantial collaborative efforts have fueled the ongoing success of Lancaster’s alternative energy achievements, perhaps most notable is the City’s inaugural footprint as a Community Choice Aggregator. With the establishment of Lancaster Choice Energy (LCE), residents and local businesses have been empowered to choose from a tier offering of renewable, cleaner energy sources at cost points more affordable than traditional power sources.
Mayor Parris’ tenacity for serving his community with a “can do” attitude has garnered many municipal “firsts,” including shepherding the City of Lancaster to becoming one of the world’s first Zero-Net Energy Cities.
Some Videos:
R. Rex Parris, Mayor of Lancaster, California
Pathways To 100% Renewable Energy - Conference ... Panel 5: Local Communities and Regions Shifting to 100% and Beyond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmjaSo3ruQs BYD Press Conference 5.1.13 | City of Lancaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmqpfX8wN74
Riding NYC Zero Emissions bus BYD 0060 on the M20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqwuTKjMabc
In Mandarin: BYD maks electric buses in Southern California
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNxRbkB1JAk
Chinese firm BYD to sell E-Buses in EU countries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHyfFDRmhAU
Some articles:
1. City of Lancaster: Mayor R. Rex Paris
2. BYD to open first US plant in California
3. BYD makes history with California bus factory
4. Lancaster mayor is anything but politically correct
5. Lancaster mayor trying to keep Mongols motorcycle club out of town
6. Lancaster may target pit bulls and Rottweilers as anti-gang measure
7. Homeless receive free one-way tickets out of Lancaster
8. Lancaster cracks down on retailers that don't go after shoplifters
9. Gay slur prompts call for sensitivity training in Lancaster
10. Lancaster requires businesses to verify new hires' eligibility to work
11. Feds Block Purchase Of Chinese BYD Electric Buses In Long Beach
12. BYD's California factory rolls out first electric buses
1. City of Lancaster :
Mayor R. Rex Parris
| Elected Mayor: | April 2008 |
| Re-elected Mayor: | April 2010 and April 2012 |
| Term Expires: | April 2016 |
http://www.cityoflancasterca.org/index.aspx?page=211
Lancaster native R. Rex Parris became the City’s third directly-elected mayor in April 2008. His immediate aggressive stance regarding the overall well-being of Lancaster residents quickly generated dramatic results which have gained nationwide recognition. Due to his fervent dedication to progress, strong leadership style and many accomplishments toward the evolution of his hometown, Parris was re-elected in 2010 and 2012. The latter extended his mayoral duties for another four years.
Upon taking office, Mayor Parris embarked on a mission to dramatically reduce Lancaster’s crime rate. As a result of his steadfast resolve, the City’s crime rate plummeted nearly 40% since his election.
Community health and wellness issues have also been at the top of the Mayor’s list. He has worked aggressively with City staff, the medical community, and faith-based organizations in Lancaster to foster a three-pronged approach to tackling total-health problems facing neighborhoods with high needs, primarily due to socio-economic status. The result is an extraordinary presence in eight local areas which now have Neighborhood Impact Homes, Wellness Homes and Community Gardens.
Maintaining a tight-knit community focus, Parris served as the catalyst for Lancaster’s downtown renaissance which completely transformed the heart of the city into a massive cultural epicenter. This community gathering place not only hosts annual mega-events such as the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, BooLVD Halloween & Harvest Festival, and Magical BLVD Christmas; it also offers seasonal concerts, a weekly farmers market, and daily one-of-a-kind shopping and dining experiences.
The municipal fortitude demonstrated during the worst economic downturn in more than 75 years was taken up a notch with the repositioning of Lancaster as a global leader in the alternative energy realm. This shift came about when Mayor Parris developed and implemented his vision of making Lancaster the Alternative Energy Capital of the World. His numerous successes in this arena have garnered worldwide media attention on an ongoing basis.
Mayor Parris has led the City into forward-thinking unique partnerships with leaders from all over the world. The City of Lancaster worked very closely with eSolar to bring its 20-acre 5MW Sierra SunTower solar project from conception to completion in just 14 months. In August 2009, eSolar proudly held the grand opening of the nation’s only operating solar thermal power tower plant in the United States. China-based technology and manufacturing giant Build Your Dreams (BYD), one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced battery technology, was paired with KB Home, one of the nation’s premier homebuilders, to create a never-before-attempted affordable solar energy housing community. Having facilitated this project, the City of Lancaster was able to unveil a modestly priced energy-efficient home designed to generate more power than it uses. The grand opening event was held in July 2010 at KB Home’s Alamosa community in West Lancaster. Multiple communities have since followed suit.
The solar journey continued when all of the City’s municipal buildings were converted to solar power. This jump-started the Solar Lancaster Program implemented in partnership with Solar City to provide an affordable solar financing program for homeowners, business owners and nonprofit organizations. The Solar Lancaster program was designed to simplify the process of going solar by reducing energy bills, offering several financing options and discounting solar pricing, while providing custom solar system designs and monitoring.
Additional solar partnerships spearheaded by Mayor Parris include entering into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and a power purchase agreement (PPA) with US Topco Energy, Inc. Parris also expanded the City’s relationship with clean-energy investment firm Beautiful Earth Group to embark on making Lancaster one of the first “Net Zero Cities” in the world. By bridging local assets and development interests with viable international partnering opportunities in the “green” space, Parris has effectively generated endless possibilities for Lancaster’s economic future.
Outside of his municipal reigns, Parris is the co-founder of the R. Rex Parris law firm, which he established in 1985 with his wife Carrol. Duly noted as a successful and innovative trial lawyer, Parris has realized multiple record-breaking wins in the courtroom, including the first million-dollar verdict in California’s Kern County, as well as a historic defamation jury verdict in Los Angeles for $370,000,000.
A graduate of Antelope Valley Community College, as well as the prestigious Scholar’s Program at the University of California - Santa Barbara, Parris earned his Juris Doctor Degree from Southwestern University School of Law. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1980.
Thankful for their continued blessings, Carrol and Rex generously support local charities, law enforcement, and educational scholarships.
Last updated: 1/15/2014 2:42:58 PM
Stella Li, senior vice president of BYD, said at a press conference that the carmaker would begin operating a plant to produce electric buses, which marks the firm's first production line in North America and South America.
"Today marks the first time a Chinese vehicle company opens a vehicle manufacturing plant in the United States," she said.
BYD, standing for "Build Your Dreams", aims to produce more than 50 electric buses by 2014. The first 10 zero-pollution vehicles, which have already been ordered by the city of Long Beach, southern California, will roll off the assembly line next May.
All those electric buses will be powered by the company's own iron-phosphate batteries, which will be manufactured in a separate plant near the bus factory in the coming months.
The company's electric bus, supported with BYD solar panels, LED lighting and energy-efficient technologies, can provide a range of over 248 kilometers on a single charge, among the highest in the world.
The arrival of the two manufacturing facilities will provide local community with hundreds of jobs as BYD expands its operations in the United States, and also represents a significant investment into local economy and in California.
When the vehicle plant reaches full production, Li said it could employ as many as 1,000 people.
But it's not just about jobs. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said that it is also about solving global warming.
"It brings a lot of tangible benefits. We gonna have jobs. We gonna have tax revenue, but more importantly, we are on the race to save this planet, and I think that America and China can work together on those problems and save the planet," Parris told Xinhua.
Commercial Counsellor of China's Consulate General in Los Angeles, Shu Luomei said, "Chinese government has always encouraged Chinese company to invest in the US, and the US is a huge place. We also hope that the US government would support these enterprises when they invest in local economy."
China-based BYD is a major manufacturer of rechargeable batteries in the world and has more than 160,000 employees globally. The company's US headquarters are located in Los Angeles.
The city of Lancaster is a community of more than 156,000 inhabitants in northern Los Angeles County. Lancaster boasts more than 350 days of sunshine per year, making it the ideal place to pioneer new solar energy technologies.
Updated: 2013-05-03 07:34
By Wang Jun in Lancaster (China Daily)
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-05/03/content_16471455.htm
Investment by Chinese automaker to provide 'hundreds of jobs' in US
Billboards along Southern California's Antelope Valley Freeway read "Lancaster welcomes BYD", heralding the opening of a bus factory by the Chinese maker of electric vehicles and batteries.
BYD Co on Wednesday became the first company from China to announce it will produce vehicles in the United States. It plans to build as many as 1,000 plug-in electric buses a year at a refurbished recreational-vehicle factory in the Mojave Desert city of Lancaster.
"We truly are making history," Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said. "Our community looks forward to working hand in hand with BYD as they develop and perfect their e-bus and energy-storage technology."
He said the manufacturing could potentially provide hundreds of jobs as BYD expands operations in the US and represents "a significant investment into our local economy and in California".
At a news conference outside the new plant, BYD Motors President Stella Li said the first of 10 zero-pollution vehicles has already been ordered by the city of Long Beach and is expected to roll off the assembly line in 2014.
She said BYD Motors expects to produce 50 buses a year by 2015 and to continue increasing production, with the intention of reaching the plant's capacity of 1,000 buses annually within two decades.
The buses will be powered by BYD's iron-phosphate batteries, which will be manufactured at another plant near the Lancaster bus factory.
At the news conference, Li described the run-up to the opening of the company's first plant in the Americas.
She said the relationship began in 2009, when company executives were introduced to city officials by Michael Antonovich, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and Bill Allen, president of the county's Economic Development Corp.
"We have been extremely impressed with the resources of LA County and the leadership shown across many cities, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Lancaster," Li said.
BYD makes history with California bus factory
"We were pleased to initiate this vital partnership with BYD, the county and the city of Lancaster and look forward to its continued success with two new world-class manufacturing facilities that will create jobs and enhance the economic vitality here in the Antelope Valley and throughout the region," Antonovich said at Wednesday's news conference.
The announcement caps a years-long effort to build a plant that promises "economic prosperity and environmental sustainability", Allen said.
In 2010, Parris and other officials visited BYD's headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Upon returning home, Parris led an effort to team up with BYD and California-based builder KB Home to create a prototype solar-powered home using BYD-made solar panels, LED lighting and other technologies including residential energy storage.
"This cemented the concept in my mind that BYD must be part of Lancaster's future," said Parris, whose city bills itself as an alternative-energy center.
"BYD's developing technologies dovetail perfectly with our community's sustainable-energy goals, while also providing stable green jobs for local residents. BYD zero-emission vehicles are not 'clean energy' but pure energy, which means no pollution at all," the mayor said.
"When Chinese and American scientists get together, there's nothing that we can't do."
Building vehicles in the US enables BYD customers to take advantage of the federal government's Buy America subsidies to support domestic production. The procurement guidelines cover as much as 80 percent of the cost of the electric buses, and BYD officials said the Lancaster plant meets those criteria.
In April, the Chinese company won a $12.1 million contract from the Long Beach transit authority to produce the 10 all-electric buses.
"BYD is thrilled to be a part of the new zero-emissions legacy beginning in Long Beach with their electric public transportation," Li said. "Additionally, our Los Angeles headquarters will continue to expand research-and-development jobs to support these manufacturing facilities as well as sales and HR support for all of North and South America."
In Lancaster, BYD purchased a former Rexhall Industries RV factory for its electric-bus manufacturing operations. Rexhall CEO William Rex will stay on as general manager of the newly formed BYD Coach and Bus LLC.A number of Rexhall employees will be maintained as the plant shifts to new ownership.
4. Lancaster mayor is anything but politically correct
Rex Parris has proudly forged a reputation as a no-nonsense leader. But some say he's gone too far.
After each City Council meeting, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris heads home, flips on his TiVo and watches a replay of the town hall proceedings. His wife makes notes of the sections she feels her husband should review, along with suggestions of what he could have done better: Temper an angry exchange. Soften a terse response. Listen.
It may seem oddly reflective behavior for a man who has proudly forged a reputation as a no-nonsense, hard-boiled politician, more Old West sheriff than diplomat.
After all, Parris is the guy who tried to ban dogs known to be favored by gangs, proposed restrictions on landlords who want to rent to tenants with Section 8 federal housing vouchers, helped fund a program to bus homeless people out of town and shut down a local motel to prevent the notorious Mongols motorcycle club from meeting in Lancaster.
Supporters cheer him for ratcheting up public safety, coming to the aid of local merchants and kicking aside roadblocks for developers wanting to do business in town.
"He doesn't pussyfoot around," said Bishop Henry Hearns, who served 18 years on the City Council, including two terms as Lancaster's first African American mayor.
But critics say Parris, who was elected last year, is an arrogant bully and an unstoppable control freak. "King Rex" they call him, or "T. Rex." Scott Pelka, 52, a self-described archenemy of Parris and long-time Lancaster resident, said the mayor has created a "dictatorship" in which challenges to his authority are simply not tolerated.
"He is the best of us, he is the worst of us. It depends on whether or not you agree with him," allowed Diana Beard-Williams, who worked on Parris' mayoral election campaign.
It's easy to see why Parris, 57, might polarize constituents. Get him talking about gangs, for instance, and he offers up this:
"There is no mercy," he said, speaking of gangbangers while in his plush City Hall office adorned with leather furnishings, a curved wooden desk and photos taken with celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell and President Reagan. "You don't work with them, you destroy them. It's simple."
And if there's "collateral damage," well, he says he's willing to take that chance. "I would just like to remove the insanity. If that makes me a barbarian, so be it."
For all the tough talk, Raymond "Rex" Parris is a complex person. His mother was a waitress. His father disappeared early in his life, and the family -- for a while -- was on welfare. The third of four sons, Parris dropped out of high school, worked as a busboy, got hooked on drugs and nearly went to jail. He eventually righted the ship and went to law school.
Now he has a booming law firm in town that specializes in class-action, personal injury and malpractice cases. He has won several multimillion-dollar jury verdicts for clients, and in July he was lead trial counsel in a civil defamation lawsuit filed by five former employees of Guess Inc. that resulted in a $370-million judgment against company co-founder Georges Marciano.
It's hard to miss his name in Lancaster. Ads for his services are splashed across television, billboards and local telephone directories. He has given handsomely to charity, underwritten academic grants and been involved in local schools so deeply that one of Lancaster's high schools was named in his honor eight years ago.
He is hardly shy about wearing the spoils of his success.
An imposing man with a white mane and beard that give him a striking resemblance to country music singer Kenny Rogers, Parris dresses in crisply tailored suits and black crocodile leather cowboy boots. He carries an Amazon Kindle electronic book reader.
He drives an exotic gray Audi sports car that auto industry magazines list between $60,000 and $90,000. Parris said he had to wait about six months for a dealer to get the car from Germany.
On a recent drive home from City Hall, Parris stroked the paneling surrounding the car's steering wheel.
"It's made of graphite," he said, and recalled how a scratch recently set him back $8,000 in repairs.
His home of 16 years in the exclusive Westfield Estates gated community, on Lancaster's west side, is palatial. The 5,000-square-foot residence, secluded on an acre, resembles a museum, with ornate chandeliers and Italian marble tile floors. His wife, Carrol, was in charge of decorating the home, meticulously selecting each of the furnishings.
Family portraits hang over fireplaces and in hallways. A restored Steinway & Sons piano graces the family room. On top lies a concert violin Parris' wife bought him after he had taken six months of lessons.
In the backyard, where two great Danes named Jack and Bell roam, a waterfall gushes over rocks into a lake-like pool. There are tennis and basketball courts, a granite-countered bar and grill. Tomato plants, pumpkins and corn flourish in manicured beds.
Parris, the father of four adult children, said he invites disadvantaged local children to swim and hang out in his yard. He said he wants to show them that although they might start out with little, as he did, they can still succeed if they work hard.
"He has a heart of gold," said Milton Grimes, a notable Los Angeles trial attorney and Parris' longtime friend. "It's just hard for you to see it behind the staunch, conservative, Republican, no bull kind of guy."
A staunch Republican and Baptist who believes gang crime and disproportionate Section 8 housing are the twin curses of his high desert town, he acknowledged that he could "probably do things better" and "could probably be nicer."
But he makes no excuses for proposing laws he feels make sense or for shutting down opponents he thinks do not.
"I don't suffer fools easily," Parris said.
Some critics charge that he intentionally targets minorities in his quest to "clean up" Lancaster, and brand him a racist. Parris calls the charges "a cheap shot" and says it's "painful to hear that, because it's so far from the truth."
"I tell African American mothers, it's not my children these gangs are killing. It's not my children who are going to prison because of these gangs," Parris said.
He explains that he wouldn't mind accommodating Section 8 tenants if the city got adequate funding to support them. He refuses to allow Lancaster to become a "dumping ground" for all of L.A. County's homeless. And to "those morons" who want to call him names, he says, check the stats. Lancaster's crime rate has plummeted by almost 30% since he became mayor, and gang crimes are down 80%, according to statistics from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
His brashness -- and, some argue, bullying -- have earned him enemies. Sometimes he hires security guards when doing business.
"He's arrogant. He's self-serving. He doesn't really care what people think," said Arnie Rodeo, 55, a local businessman who ran for mayor against Parris last year and lost by 351 votes. "He surrounds himself with 'yes' people."
Johnathon Ervin, 30, believes his refusal to be a Parris "yes man" got him fired in August from his position on Lancaster's seven-person Planning Commission -- a post to which Parris had appointed him a year earlier.
Ervin, an Air Force reservist, was alone in voting against allowing a Wal-Mart super center on the Lancaster-Quartz Hill border -- a project supported by Parris but fiercely challenged by many area residents.
"If he doesn't get what he wants, he will get rid of what he sees as the obstacle," Ervin said. "He has a control fetish."
"He's basically killed the whole concept of democracy in Lancaster," said Denise Latanzi, a homemaker who pursued a failed bid for a City Council seat last year. She called Parris' governance style "bombastic" and criticized his tendency to "dress down" citizens at council meetings.
The mayor contends that Ervin was trying to cut a private deal with the Wal-Mart developers. As for other opponents, he says many are people who have done little to help improve Lancaster and some are jealous of his success.
Parris' mother, Jeanne Powers, gushes with pride over her son's achievements and defends his need "to be ruthless."
"Rex has accomplished an awful lot in his life against all odds," she said.
In his home office, which his wife calls his "cave," Parris buries himself in books on cognitive science, a favorite topic. He also studies Mandarin Chinese with the hope that it may be useful in attracting Chinese manufacturing businesses to Lancaster. At his urging, the city has hired a Mandarin tutor for its staff.
The mayor says he envisions a Lancaster of ethnic and class integration, with community gardens, 60% homeownership in all neighborhoods and a mix of "older Generation Y and younger Generation X."
"I would like to make this the best small city in America," Parris said. "How I'll know that I'm successful is when the happiness level of the people who live here rises substantially."
July 17, 2009 | Ann M. Simmons
Determined to prevent the Mongols motorcycle club from using a Lancaster motel to host its annual meeting this weekend, the city's mayor has taken steps to shut down the establishment. Mayor R. Rex Parris said the members of the Mongols, which law enforcement agencies consider a violent biker gang, are not welcome in Lancaster because they "are engaged in domestic terrorism . . . and they kill our children."
January 26, 2009 | Ann M. Simmons
The city of Lancaster is considering adopting stiff penalties for owners of "potentially dangerous" and "vicious" dogs, particularly those that law enforcement officials say are favored by gang members and used for intimidation. The proposed ordinance would also require spaying and neutering of all varieties of pit bulls and Rottweilers, including mutts that have "predominant physical characteristics" of those breeds. "I want gangs out of Lancaster," Mayor R.
March 30, 2009 | Ann M. Simmons
Andrea and Greg Killgore were already living on the streets in Las Vegas when they decided to relocate to Lancaster in early March. They thought their job prospects would be better in California. But the couple were unable to find work and feared they would soon end up back on the streets. A few days later, they were on a bus headed to Denver, where a relative had agreed to take them in. To their surprise, a local nonprofit group had agreed to pay for their one-way ticket out of town.
December 19, 2012 | By Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times
Lancaster retailers that refuse to press charges against shoplifters will risk having their names publicized to entice thieves, the city's mayor, R. Rex Parris, said Tuesday. Parris said the initiative was needed because some retailers believe that the cost of apprehending and prosecuting people who steal outweighs losses from theft. "It's just a balance-sheet issue for them," Parris said in an interview. But the realization that stores won't take legal action emboldens criminals, the mayor said.
August 1, 2013 | By Ari Bloomekatz
The mayor of Lancaster said this week that sensitivity training is needed after a city commisioner made public comments that the mayor said were offensive to Jews and homosexuals. Mayor R. Rex Parris said that Stan Muhammad of the city's Neighborhood Vitalization Commission made the statements at a July 20 rally and that "it was not a city event, he was not representing the city" when he said them. A video posted to YouTube of Muhammad's comments show the commissioner speaking into a hand-held microphone at a lectern using a derogatory word for homosexuals.
December 31, 2009 | By Ann M. Simmons
Businesses operating in the city of Lancaster will be required to ensure that all new hires are eligible to work in the United States by using an Internet-based federal program to check the immigration and employment eligibility of potential workers. The free online program, called E-Verify, allows participating employers to use federal databases to compare information provided by job seekers with millions of records kept by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) may block the purchase of the Chinese company's buses, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports (via ChargedEVs).
The Press-Telegram discovered letters from the FTA to Long Beach Transit, saying that BYD was not eligible to build buses for the city when Long Beach Transit board members approved its contract in March 2013.
At the time of its bid, BYD could not provide documentation showing its compliance with the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which requires contractors that receive Federal money to give minority-owned businesses a chance at the work.
A BYD spokesperson told the Press-Telegram that the company believes it is in compliance with all Federal requirements.Long Beach Transit has not commented on the FTA letters, but an agency statement said it would give BYD time to resolve the issue.
This isn't the first legal problem BYD has encountered as it attempts to build and sell electric buses in the U.S.
The company was fined last fall for low wages at its California plant, although the issue was later resolved.
Over 1,000 buses have been built for Chinese cities--and one tested in Quebec, one BYD electric bus went into service last fall between Denver International Airport and several airport hotels. More details here.
In addition to Long Beach's order for 15 buses, Los Angeles has agreed to test five buses and buy 20 more if the city's transit agency finds them satisfactory.
BYD turned its effort toward selling electric buses after it missed numerous deadlines in multiple attempts to sell its e6 electric crossover in the U.S.
12. BYD's California factory rolls out first electric buses
State governor Jerry Brown hails investment by Chinese carmaker as Toyota moves to Texas
30 April, 2014, 1:31am UPDATED 30 April, 2014, 1:31am
Besides launching its electric buses in the US on Monday, BYD plans to have four car models in the market by next year. Photo: AFP
BYD, the Chinese carmaker partly owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, rolled out the first two electric buses from its factory in California on Monday as it pushes into the United States and Canadian markets.
The 12-metre long battery-powered vehicles were delivered to the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in Los Angeles County, where BYD has its US headquarters in the city of Lancaster.
"BYD is the harbinger of things to come," said California governor Jerry Brown, who led a trade mission to China in April last year and toured the BYD factory on Monday. "This is the great dream."
BYD is the harbinger of things to come. This is the great dream
JERRY BROWN, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
Brown's visit came on the day that Japan's Toyota Motor Corp said it would move about 2,000 people from its US sales base in Torrance, California, to a new North American headquarters in Dallas.
Brown, a 76-year-old Democrat, is seeking re-election against Republicans who have said California's high taxes and strict regulations push businesses out of the state. The move is a blow to the state, the biggest US car market and proponent of the strictest clean-air rules.
BYD Motors, which employs 60 people at its plant, expected its payroll to reach 100 by the end of this year and grow to 200 next year, chief executive Stella Li said.
The Lancaster factory had orders from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Michael Austin, a vice-president of BYD's US unit.
Its buses are being evaluated by Ottawa, Montreal, New York and the Los Angeles Transportation Department.
BYD is the world's largest producer of electric buses, having manufactured more than 1,300 such vehicles, according to a company statement.
BYD planned to make 200 buses annually by the end of next year, Austin said earlier this month at the Beijing motor show.
Besides buses, BYD planned to introduce four passenger car models for its US debut at the end of next year, Li said in January.
Although BYD was not ready when it earlier sought to enter the US car market in 2010, the company was more prepared this time, she said.
BYD has revived plans to sell new stock equivalent to as much as 20 per cent of its Hong Kong-traded shares, people familiar with the matter said last month. The company had submitted an application with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, they said.
The funds would give the company room to step up investments and bolster production of electric cars and buses. Selling shares would also help alleviate the strain on a balance sheet that has seen net debt surge last year to a record.
