The Antelope Valley Times

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Parris to Ledford: Let’s tear down the cactus curtain!

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Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris held a press conference outside Antelope Valley courthouse Thursday morning to call for a mediator to settle ongoing differences between Lancaster and Palmdale.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris held a press conference outside Antelope Valley courthouse Thursday morning to call for a mediator to settle ongoing differences between Lancaster and Palmdale.

LANCASTER – It’s no secret that Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford have disagreed over the years on a variety of issues. The most recent sources of contention have been the Palmdale Power Plant and Palmdale’s approval of safe and sane fireworks this Independence Day holiday.

The public battle between the two neighboring cities is reaching a “crescendo that is simply intolerable,” and the City of Lancaster is now extending an olive branch to resolve differences with Palmdale, Parris announced at a press conference Thursday.

“What I would like to say is, ‘Mr. Ledford, let’s tear down the curtain,’” Parris said. “That cactus curtain is causing real people real pain, and we have to stop doing that.”

Flanked by Lancaster City Council members in front of the Antelope Valley courthouse, Parris suggested the two cities hire a mediator to settle their disagreements on issues that affect the entire Antelope Valley.

Parris said world class mediators had expressed interest in the project, and the process would cost little if anything at all.

“We both have city managers that get along quite well, fortunately, and they’ll put it together,” Parris said. “All it takes is a willingness to do it.”

Parris outlined a list of issues he believed could be tackled through a mediator. They included:

  • The Palmdale Power Plant,
  • The “reckless disregard of the economic realities” regarding sales taxes,
  • The future of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority and Metrolink,
  • Recycled water,
  • The sanitation district administration,
  • Air quality management strategies,
  • The role of local government and citizens commissions,
  • Local AV control of water service,
  • Local control of the Antelope Valley Fair,
  • Fireworks sales, and
  • Unemployment.

“We wouldn’t have an employment problem if the two cities worked together… unemployment could be about 5 percent instead of 14 percent,” Parris said. “It’s time we behave like adults and try to figure out how to work out these real issues where there are real disagreements.”

“Just hurting each other is only hurting the hard working families that live here,” Parris added.

Contacted by telephone Thursday afternoon, Ledford said a mediator was unnecessary, especially with regard to the Palmdale Power Plant.

“The process is already complex enough, we don’t need to add another layer of government on top of the many layers that already exist,” Ledford said. “[The Palmdale Power Plant] is the most analyzed project in the history of the Antelope Valley, and we want another round of hearings? It’s already been approved!”

The Palmdale Power Plant has already been approved by the California Energy Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, so the issue does not require mediation, Ledford said. There are already processes, boards and commissions in place to take care of the other issues Parris mentioned, so a mediator was not needed in those areas either, Ledford said.

“Those boards are put together for that reason, I think they’re doing fine,” Ledford said. “I don’t agree with everything, but I’m not supposed to.”

Ledford said Palmdale was working hard to address unemployment, as well.

“We’re trying to address the unemployment, I’m bringing 800 jobs to build a power plant that he wants to deny,” Ledford said.

Ledford said mediation between the two cities was simply not needed, and he preferred to focus on the positives instead.

“I don’t understand it. We’re spending energy in areas that don’t bring any benefit,” Ledford said. “Let’s focus on positive things and the development of our communities, respectively, and the Antelope Valley will thrive.”

–

109 comments for "Parris to Ledford: Let’s tear down the cactus curtain!"

  1. Oh lookie…one, two, three, four. Four members of council at a public meeting that was not noticed. Can you say Brown Act violation, again?

    • Exactly what part of the Brown Act was violated, Mr. Lawyer?

      Hint: It’s not illegal for a majority of council members to show up to a press conference and be photographed together.

    • Not a Rex fan, but there’s no Brown Act violation. No action is being taken, and no discussion is taking place. If you’re going to attack Rex, at least do it intelligently.

  2. All the recent talk about Parris banning fireworks in Lancaster & wanting Palmdale to do the same…. Had the misfortune to visit the Walmart on Lancaster today, front & center by the checkouts: Fireworks for sale.. so it’s OK for Walmrt to sell fireworks in Lancaster?.. or is Parris going to have the SD put a chainlink fence around the place like they did when they put the Desert Inn out of business?

    Then as I’m driving home I see ANOTHER frigging cycle lane for the non-existant cyclists. This one is on 20th West from J8 to J13. Show me ONE photo of a cyclist (apart from Parris) using them…

  3. When I lived in the Antelope Valley, my wife worked for Ledford at his Pub off of Sierra Hwy. She had the upmost respect for him. As to Parris, He was just a Lawyer. I don’t know him but based on all of your comments, I wouldn’t want too. Back then, we all worked together because it was the people from down below who were the jerks. now it seems to be alive and well in AV. Parris needs to understand that Palmdale isn’t the poor step-child back in the 60’s and 70’s and shouldn’t be told how to run their city – Just a thought but since when a Power Plant in Palmdale Lancasters concern?

  4. There is almost NEVER a downside to mediation. It is never binding unless the parties reach an agreement they both want. It is cost effective and that is why civil judges almost all require it. I do not trust politicians but I really am questioning why Ledford would ever say no to something that us cost effective and proven to work. Time to dump the egos and grow up

    • Lancaster is the one with the problem. Mediation assumes two parties are trying to work something out. From Palmdale’s perspective, it’s all good. I think a therapist for Lancaster is more in order.

    • What is there to mediate? This is a ploy by Oartis in his quest to rule the valley. Rejected.

    • This is probably the first step in a lawsuit Rex wants to file against the City of Palmdale. He’s going to claim thatthat he offered to mediate but got shot down. Just one more act in the City of Lancaster three ring political circus.

  5. It seems to me that the cactus curtain is the only thing holding back the polluted political sewage dump that is Lancaster. Let it down at your own risk Palmdale.

  6. The craziest thing of all is, Rex Parris has absolutely no leverage in this matter. If he thought that his hastily thrown together news conference was going to somehow sway Palmdale public opinion into forcing Jim Ledford Into agreeing to so-called mediation, well, he is more delusional than I thought. He just gave Jim Ledford opportunity to look like he’s standing up to Rex. Just shows how out of touch with Palmdale Rex is.

    • Maybe Steve Fox can mediate. If anybody can do it, he can. Rex likes Steve, and Jim likes him too….. nah. Not gonna happen, though it should.

      • Mediate what, this is a list of stuff Rex wants, that’s all. Doesnt he read? The power plant was okd and so was the fireworks. Rex should worry about his own city.

  7. why doesnt someone put a firework stand in front of his office and see if lights it on fire lol

  8. Moved from Lancaster to Palmdale some 13 years ago for good reason…guess what still the best decision I ever made and I want to keep it that way…Lancaster will NEVER be anything close to what Palmdale has to offer…Keep up the Great Work Ledford!

  9. If Rex wants to tear down the cactus curtain, there must be something on the other side that he wants.

  10. I wonder if the AV Times is going to do a follow up to find out what Ron Smith’s perspective is on this, especially since it doesn’t appear that he was at the news conference. Please notice, no personal attacks.

  11. “$921 MILLION DOLLARS CAN’T BUY ME ANY CLASS OR RESPECT” -R. Rex Parris

    Seen on a few billboards around the Valley. The guy is so desperate, I’m beginning to feel sorry for him………………. OK. I’m over it.

  12. We live in a valley surrounded by mountains and desert. We breathe the same air and inhale the same particles in the air. We drink the same water. We drive on the same streets from one end of the AV to another. We are one people. We need to be one city with one mayor, one enlarged districted council, and one city hall. We need one school districted into different seats, so all will be represented. We need one police agency whether LASD or whatever that will treat all citizens with respect and put the bad guys away. I dream that soon we will be citizens of the city of the Antelope Valley and, maybe, the County of Antelope Valley, too. Finally, I dream, too, that citizens will judge men such as Mayor Parris or Mayor Ledford on their good deeds and realize that they are humans such as we are with the same faults and good points. I pray, too, for peace among us all.

    • Good luck. I bet most Palmdale residents DO NOT want to be part of a city that includes Lancaster and/or Rex Parris.

      What? Are you gonna force us? So far, there is nothing in it for Palmdale. We’ve got a ‘boulevard’. Palmdale Boulevard. What else ya got?

      • Even with the AV Mall in Palmdale and the east side shopping center Lancaster has higher retail sales, though only by a very small margin of around 1%.
        One could argue that shared tax revenues from Retail Sales would be an advantage.. something Lancaster has suggest multiple times in the past..
        Specifically Lancaster had $246,978,800 vs. $146,981,100 for Palmdale in taxable retail auto sales in 2011. Now with the big 3 domestic makes posting larger sales numbers and new franchises joining the Lancaster Auto Mall (Mitsu, Fiat) one could estimate Lancaster easily exceeding $350,000,000 in 2013 and Palmdale doing 1/2 of that..

        • Tax sharing is such a great idea that’s why everybody does it. Cities all across California and the U.S. do do tax sharing, right? Wutt , wutt? They don’t? Hmmmmmm………

        • Give it up, Adam. We’re not interested no matter how many cars are sold in Lancaster.

          • Why is the idea for merging cities and sharing tax revenues always coming from north of M? Why?

          • Sooooo…..Rex wants to give it away? That’s a first! I think he can read the tea leaves as well as anybody else. Palmdale is on its way up, Lancaster is on its way down. The day that Lancaster is closer to Los Angeles than Palmdale is the day that Lancaster will have the advantage. In other words, never.

    • I like your vision of one city! …but can we ditch “Antelope” please? I have NEVER liked the “Antelope” part of Antelope Valley.

      For one thing, there is an Antelope Valley in Northern California already. It’s off of US Highway 395 at the Nevada state line near Topaz Lake. And guess what? There are still actual antelope in that area, so it’s much more fitting for them to have that name! Nobody even knows for sure if there were ever any antelope in the western Mojave Desert.

      A better name for a new city up here would be Amargosa Valley. The Amargosa Creek flows through both of the current cities. The name of “Amargosa Valley” is a lot more attractive and it would honor California’s Spanish heritage also. You could still keep “AV” as the initials too.

      • “Nobody even knows for sure if there were ever any antelope in the western Mojave Desert.” – Matt K.

        You might want to do some further researching before making that kind of an assertion. Several sources will lead you online to Glen Settle’s book published through the Kern-Antelope Historical Society, “Here Roamed the Antelope.” Glen Settle, with his wife Doreen, were pioneer Antelope Valleyites, and through his marriage to Doreen, owned the Tropico Gold Mine in Rosamond. He quotes Antelope Valley pioneer John D. Covington (1876-1949) as saying “When I was a boy, 30 cowboys and myself made a count one day, and counted, as nearly as we could, 7,000 antelope.” Source here: http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-01/sports/sp-23750_1_pronghorn-antelope

        I hope this puts the question to rest of whether or not antelope really did live and play here in our very own Antelope Valley here in Southern California. Thanks for listening.

      • Enough with changing the names of places and streets and whatnot. You just add complexity and confusion.

        I like the name ‘Antelope Valley’.

        I like those stylized images of antelope on the signs for the Antelope Valley Mall. It conjures up a beautiful animal regardless if there are still any here or not.

        I recall a few years ago when someone had the bright idea to rename name SR-14, the ‘Aerospace Freeway’. Glad that didn’t happen. It’s bad enough with new construction to constantly update maps and GPS devices and you want to change the name unnecessarily. Look in the phone book at how many businesses use ‘Antelope’ in their names. I’m sure they don’t want the change just because of your preferences.

        I’m sure you have better things to do than changing the name of the Antelpe Valley.

        No thanks.

  13. Who was that great philosopher in the 1990’s who said (Can’t we all just get along!)

    • That great philosopher you so eloquently refer to was named Rodney King….heroin addict and police victim which caused the LA riots. Are you saying that heroin creates great philosophers?

  14. Perris has ripped off Lancaster and now wants Palmdale,,, line those pockets, as a local business person Rex pushed us off to the side and is and has used outside companies so he can get kick backs,,, slapped us in the face, along with his cronies!!!!!!,,

  15. Rex is a good Mayor, has worked hard to keep crime down, but he has always been a power hungry [removed], he is pretty sure the good people of Lancaster voted him in as King of the A.V.

    • Living here in Lancaster for over ten years and every thing Rex has done has been to only focus on more law enforcement which Lancaster is grossly over saturated with, and cutting shady business deals that he say will is for the good of the city. Rex has been cited for many undertones of racial divide and will do nothing to really lower unemployment. Palmdale has become the best and most attractive city in the AV because of Mayor Ledford. I see his leardship brings so much more to the residences and create jobs, better housing, stores and commerce helping AV residence to not have to travel so much to L.A. my next move will be joining Palmdale and leaving Lancaster. Lancaster is dying as a city; west-side of Lancaster as a little to show, still not much, and the east side has no good development once you drive past 10th west to the east-side it’s a dead poor ran down city that no one will help build up and fix it up. Lancaster has too many bad unequal issuses.

  16. “It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order – and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order”

  17. Wow! Ol’ Rex should read these comments. The majority want him to mind his own business.

    I’m guessing after that pathetic interview on TWC 3, last week followed by Palmdale’s FACTUAL response made him look like, well, like he really is. Remember, he said that there were 30 million, that’s 30,000,000, fireworks injuries last year but it was really 30 million non-fatal injuries of all types with a miniscule amount related to fireworks. He’s either lying or poorly informed.

    Now, he wants to play nice. He has to earn it, first by apologizing to Mayor Ledford who has never responded in kind and then proving he can be trusted. It may take years, decades, in fact.

    I think Parris is aware of something we aren’t that’s coming down the pike and he’s a scaredy cat right now.

    He’s always telling us how fantastic things are going in ‘world class’ Lancaster and, yet, he wants a help from Palmdale. Too bad.

    • Think you’re right on this one Will, something is up and he sounds like he is in a panic.Getting really tired of his bloviating and hope my elected officials in Palmdale are very careful how they deal with this. I don’t trust him or his minions, they’re up to something and it can’t be goodhearted needs to keep his nose out of Palmdale ‘s business.And what’s happening with that lawsuit he brought against us? He ‘s mistaken if he thinks he has any credibility here.

    • William, you have near prescience on things like these. Your analysis totally fits the evidence. My thinking is, and tell me what you think, but i think Hizzoner Parris made some promises that he can’t keep and he needs something from Palmdale to make it happen. His tail is in a major crack and it’s got him nervous.

      • @castus curtain

        I dunno. Sometines when I step back and just take an overview, I can see the forest for the trees.

        A while ago, I sent Mayor Ledford an email wondering why there was such a silence for many months from the High Speed Rail Authority. A month later, the Authority decided to have another look at the Grapevine route for the rail instead of the Antelpe Valley route.

        I didn’t know that what was up but the silence was like a red flag.

        Despite all the Parris promotion and new development on the BLVD, from the very beginning and till this day, there is something not quite right with the project to match the hype. Whenever I’ve gone there over the last few years, I’m anxious to leave and I feel a little sad as I do.

        I have to drive by the Antelope Valley Mall on the way home and the contrast in quality and energy of each place is remarkable. The traffic at 10th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard is bustling and tells you this is a destination, a special destination while the traffic down the BLVD, though less, is actually annoying to negotiate. That’s just the first impression. Then, when I walk down the sidewalks at the east end, there are hardly any people; about how it was before the project. At the west end, there aren’t any people ‘strolling down the BLVD’. The restaurants across from the theater are very attractive but the theater, LPAC, library, sheriff’s station, BeX and MOAH aren’t pedestrian friendly at the street level and inconsitent with the small town intimacy that is being promoted. It keeps needing things to ‘fix’ it.

        I don’t know what Parris is distressed about-the various lawsuits that he might lose, the bond rating?, whatever. But, it would be like dealing with a wounded wild animal at this point. Do you mediate with a wounded animal? It could be risky.

        It’s odd that dispite his arrogance, Parris didn’t seem confident on his TWC 3 interview and at the press conference. Red flags, I tell ya.

  18. So let me see if I got this straight… Parris makes intentionally vicious comments regarding Ledford’s intent with the PHPP on the very same day as he calls for a mediator for reconciliation?

    IF Parris is truly interested in reconciliation, he should start with apologizing for the way that he has been publicly treating Mayor Ledford. THEN his calls for reconciliation might be a little more believable.

    Then there is the treatment of this by this publication without any history being given to show the absolute disinginuity of the claim that the problems are on both sides of the Parris-reconstructed cactus curtain. Seriously, I am fully expecting to see an advertising banner across the top of this site for Parris’ law firm in the very near future.

    • I find this story to be objective and fair to both sides of this childish playground war, and you’re mad because AVT is not coming down more on Parris?? Give it a rest already!! I’m no Parris cheerleader, but your obsessive hatred for the man is too much. If this man wants to work things out, let them try!! People like you who fan the flames of this war are doing NOTHING to help the Antelope Valley move forward.

      • The comments opposing Parris are in response to his words and actions which many consider to be out-of-bounds.

        And, you want to criticize the people who respond to Parris’s activity. LOL Have you forgotten that this is the United States and we are free to criticize public officials.

        Many people who have commented here don’t trust Parris and his pathetic overture to work things out. He’s given up the right to be trusted. He will have to earn it from scratch.

      • Letlow, if I thought for one hot minute that Parris was sincere in wanting to reconcile with the leadership in Palmdale, I would be fully in support of it. Unfortunately, the evidence clearly does not support such a conclusion.

        Embrace reality, Letlow, then reassess what is behind the words.

        • If you’re trying to make things right, there’s this really cool device called a telephone. You pick it up and you call the other person. You don’t hold a press conference. Duh.

      • The Letlow, you must REALLY be mad at Parris for fanning the flames of war!! He’s been doing it for years!! Nobody’s telling Rex he can’t TRY to make things….there’s just absolutely no motivation for Ledford to reciprocate, at least none that seem to make any sense. Palmdale loves him, and the more that Rex tries to put his nose into Palmdale’s business, the more Palmdale folks are going to resent it. Unlike Lancaster, Palmdale folks aren’t afraid of Rex Parris.

    • I think he should put one of those beach banners on the back of the LEAP’s plane advertising his law firm as it flys around the city!

  19. oh mr rex keep crying that you can not control another city because you ran yours to the ground keep it up hater palmdale can do bad all by its self how do you cry about unemployment when you city is welfare capital why dont you hire some ppl to come clean your office just saying lol

  20. How exactly could a mediator bring down the unemployment rate 9%? There are no jobs to be had in either town. And it seems like half the city projects go to companies that are out of town whose workers dont live here. Maybe Im overlooking something here, but I dont see how mediation is going to create jobs out of thin air.

    • Due to all of the infighting between the cities it has negatively impacted the prospects of new companies coming to the A.V. No one wants to deal with that kind of bickering because it can lead to future problems for business.
      Example: Look at the BLVD.. many consider it a pariah because they associate the Mayor of Lancaster to it.
      If he would shut up people might just see how great it is and enjoy that we have such a place with great potential.
      People want a Whole Foods in the Antelope Valley. It would bring around 50 jobs to our community. Where would it go? Well they are actually being courted by both cities right now and knowing how things are currently; if Whole Foods discloses that they are going to one city the other will try to tie it up in B.S. for who knows how long.. Can you say Antelope Valley Chevrolet…
      If both cities were working together on a focused Antelope Valley effort they would see where locating it would provide the best benefit for the whole community. Or Lancaster gets this one, but Palmdale gets the next one type of give and take. Palmdale has TJ’s so Lancaster gets WF.. yin yang

      • I don’t always agree with you Adam, but on this one, you nailed it. People cannot disassociate the man from the City. He can scream all he wants about people needing to do just that, but it’s not going to happen. He just keeps shooting himself in the foot by making stupid statements and then coming back a couple of months later and trying to pretend he never said them. I can’t figure out if there is some grand scheme on his part, or if he is truly that inconsistent. He has done more to build the cactus curtain than anybody. All he has to do is pick up the phone, call Jim Ledford and start mending fences. Holding press conferences just makes him look stranger than he already does.

      • You mean like the Antelope Valley Board of Trade and Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance? The tools are here already. By the way, Trader Joes or Whole Foods or anyone looking to come here is not going to be concerned about what would provide the best benefit for the whole community. They are going to look to what would provide the best benefit for their company.

        • Wining and dining potential suitors only goes so far. When the economy is tight companies don’t want to risk expanding to new markets that are unproven and lack statistics to back up the cheerleaders.
          We can all keep saying “Come to our community.” in the hopes that more major retailers show up, but until there are sales per square foot numbers published for retail in various areas of the Antelope Valley (Not just national chain averages) we will continue to be overlooked by the bigger players.
          One nice thing about the AV Mall is that they have a built-in way to get $/SqFt numbers and it really helps the businesses in the general area.. but for the vast majority of the Antelope Valley this information is not in any way available.

          When the Antelope Valley Board of Trade and Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance embrace the needs of the retail sector by presenting local statistics and not just anecdotal evidence then the Antelope Valley will actually start seeing some growth in retail.
          It’s not high paying jobs, but it’s jobs and tax revenues.. both desperately needed in our community.

          • Check out 47th Street East corrider, Adam Chant. From nothing much, to a well developed shopping region for the eastside.

            There’s no AV Mall over there, so how do you explain all that development during the last 5 years of a severe recession?

          • No but the 47th center developed by Forest City.. who also developed the 10th Sam’s Club center and.. The AV Mall. There is nothing new in the center that isn’t in the west side centers and for the most part all of the retailers are under $150/sqft..

      • Our demographics don’t meet what Whole Foods looks for. Maybe one of their smaller prototypes that they’re putting in urban areas but not the Whole Foods you see in Valentia and elsewhere.

  21. People in the photo: Kit Yee Szeto (Deputy Mayor) NOT a member of the Lancaster City Council. Marv Crist Member of the Lancaster City Council. Rex Parris Mayor of Lancaster and Member of the Lancaster City Council. Sandra Johnson Member of the Lancaster City Council. Ken Mann Member of the Lancaster City Council. There. No personal attacks. Totally following the guidelines. Your article should read Rex Parris was flanked by Council Members and a City Staff person. Your picture leaves the impression that Kit Yee Szeto is a member of the Lancaster City Council as does the article.

  22. I think Ledford should agree to mediate. I mean, what could it hurt? If Parris is really sincere, then the two cities would be better off having worked together. If Parris is full of crap, then Ledford can just put out another one of those nifty news bulletins calling out Parris on all his crap. Either way, not a bad idea to give it a shot. Come on Ledford, at least give the guy a chance!

    • Good idea. Maybe Dave Childs and Mark Bozigian can sit down and work out all of the things that Rex wants done. Problem solved! You’re a genius!

    • Parris just wants to LOOK like a great leader. Does anyone think he will abide by arbitration if it goes agin’ him and his big, fat ego? Buehler?

  23. Why the heck would Palmdale negotiate with a person who continually sues, bad mouths, attacks, tries to stop projects like Rex does? Rex cannot be trusted. His motives are impure.

  25. A bit long, but what the heck.

    The Scorpion and the Frog
    One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.

    The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn’t see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

    Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

    “Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?”

    “Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?” asked the frog hesitantly.

    “Because,” the scorpion replied, “If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!”

    Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. “What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!”

    “This is true,” agreed the scorpion, “But then I wouldn’t be able to get to the other side of the river!”

    “Alright then…how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?” said the frog.

    “Ahh…,” crooned the scorpion, “Because you see, once you’ve taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!”

    So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog’s back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog’s soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

    Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog’s back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

    “You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”

    The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog’s back.

    “I could not help myself. It is my nature.”

    Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

    Self destruction – “Its my Nature”, said the Scorpion…

    TRex just can’t help himself.

  26. Regardless of the politically drawn lines that separate the various cities in the Antelope Valley, It will become one large community in the near future. The curtains that separate them will be whisked away when level heads persist. Get on the train, the Antelope Valley is on its way.

    • That maybe so, but we don’t have to accept that as being run by Rex. [insert insult about him being self-serving here].

      • Of course it doesn’t have to be Rex – he’s offering to work together here. I think it’s a great idea!

  27. It’s unfortunate that Ledford chose to immediately reject an opportunity to help the two cities work together. Although he tries to appear as if he stays above the fray, it’s undeniable that grenades have been launched from both sides of the Cactus Curtain.

    Whether we like it or not, there are numerous decisions the leaders of Lancaster and Palmdale make that affect the citizens of both cities. One city is finally ready to work with the other, so what’s the problem? What could it possibly hurt to participate? I would love to see our leaders sit down at the table together and work through their differences. Both cities could do so much more for this community if only they would work together.

    • Why in the world would Jim Ledford agree to negotiate? One negotiates when one is in a position of weakness. Obviously, Rex perceives himself in a position of weakness otherwise, he wouldn’t be asking for a sit-down. Let Rex prove that he can solve Lancaster’s problems, then maybe he can talk about solving Palmdale’s.

      • It is precisely that mentality that has gotten us into this mud-slinging ridiculousness. This petty rivalry, fueled by the two enormous egos of two politicians, is damaging to both cities. The AV is one community, and leaders from both cities should be working together on everything from transit to lowering unemployment. But because these two just can’t get along, they’re not.

        I agree with Sarah. Both cities would pick their own people to represent them, and that likely wouldn’t include either mayor. Let the people who can set their differences aside get together and work through this stuff so they can work together on what really matters. Palmdale has nothing to lose, and if it’s successful, it could be a huge win for the citizens of both cities.

        • Sorry, Palmdale has EVERYTHING to lose by sitting down with Rex. He only wants to sit down and talk if he’s losing. If he’s winning, he’ll just keep smacking you. You have obviously been living in a cave. I never heard Jim Ledford call Rex Parris a doofus. The least Rex can do is apologize. RRRIIIIGGGHHHTTTT…..like that’s going to happen.

          • yea.. you haven’t been in ear shot of someone trying to negotiate a sit-down over the phone of these two.. I have and it’s not all “flowers and puppies” from either of them..

    • Rex is not interested in negotiating or working together. He wants full control. If you cannot grasp that then there is no use in discussion.

    • If Rex really cared about working with Palmdale he’d stop suing them at every opportunity! How petty, pathetic, narcissistic, and afraid does that make him look?If he was so confident in his abilities as a leader he wouldn’t be so concerned with Palmdale. Stop being a Bully Rex!

  28. I’m kind of a fan of the cactus curtain. Rex should just stay on his side of it and worry about Lancaster, and Jim can stay on his side of it and worry about Palmdale. It would probably help things, however, if Rex Parris spent more time on solving Lancaster’s problems instead of trying to figure out ways to humiliate Palmdale. It seems to me that Jim Ledford is trying to focus on his City while Rex Parris is trying to butt his nose into others people’s business for some sort of political gain. I suppose he can try to back some Palmdale candidates for the City Council, but it would probably be political suicide for any candidate that Rex backed.

    • Lets face it Lancaster is so screwed up because of bad leadership, bad spending, poor redevelopment planning, high unemployment and a soaring crime rate that we are beyond help. That’s why Rex wants to screw up palmdale. This way he won’t appear that much of a screw-up and being the first mayor in the history in the antelope valley to have bankrupted a city.

  29. As a lifetime Lancaster resident, homeowner, and taxpayer, I would really love it if MY mayor would worry about OUR city. It seems he is either detracting attention from what is going on in Lancaster, or he is trying to make himself look like he has more influence than he actually does for political image reasons. Either way, he looks like a nosy neighbor who does not know how to research before making accusatory public statements.

  30. Hey Parris, it is a [removed] mistake to insert yourself in the business of another municipality when you have so many unresolved issues in your own city. Back off and mind your own business, will ya?

  32. Rex must’ve run another poll and found the public is sick of his bloviating!

  33. No thanks king Parris, stick to the problems in your town. We don’t want your revenue enhancement stoplight cameras. We don’t want your spy-in-the-sky civilian, backyard surveillance day after day, fireworks ban, none of it.

    Palmdale is doing just fine thanks to it’s community leaders and citizens.

    • Um…we don’t have stoplight cameras in Lancaster…and how does a ticket that goes to the Sheriffs/court system benefit Rex exactly…?

    • As a long-time Palmdale resident, I can absolutely say that we are NOT doing just fine. Pools closed, roads not being maintained, graffitti everywhere, entire neighborhoods ignored…East Palmdale makes Barstow look like Beverly Hills.

        • Because I expect my city government to take care of the things it’s responsible for? Why yes, you’re right. I probably would be much better off in Lancaster.

        • I live on the eastside of Palmdale and don’t see what you see. Yes, I’ve seen graffiti (westside, in Newport Beach, Valencia, Santa Monica) but the one time I called it in it was gone days later when I drove by again. The same issues with the steers are found everywhere as well. The government can only do so much. Is it their fault there are taggers? Why do so many people rely on the govt to fix everything? What about getting involved and trying to make things better during trying time?

      • A drive down 20th East from Avenue S to Palmdale blvd. will show you how great things are in Palmdale.. Last Sunday there were no fewer than 6 illegal food vendors huddled around St. Mary’s Catholic Church selling everything from taco’s to boiled corn. It’s so bad some people just put up signs and sell stuff from their homes.. bathtub tacos anyone.. No need to go to Tijuana you just need to visit Palmdale on a Sunday..

        • Unlike the corn vendors of Lancaster? On every street from 15th west to the corners of 90th east.

        • You obviously have not been to downtown Lancaster at their farmers market on Thursdays or seen street ventors in small rented shacks from the city selling junk. Now that is like Tijuana.

  34. I really dont care. When my friend and I were ran off the road by the City of Lancaster’s Commissioners daughter out of road rage with both of our kids in the vehicle and he flashed his badge and she got away scott free, and because of who he was she wasnt even warned or cited and he was still in office. I have NO respect for lancaster’s offices

  35. The Palmdale Power Planet is None of Mayor Parris’s business. He really needs to stay out of Palmdale’s business. Also him suing because of the City Council being White is ridiculous and a conflict of interest. Parris has no intention of settling anything unless Lancaster wins