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Readers Speak Out!

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‘Readers Speak Out!’ allows you to voice your opinions on local or national issues not been covered by The AV Times.

We only ask that you refrain from using obscenities or racial slurs, from engaging in personal attacks on other commenters (name-calling), and from knowingly posting false information.

Additionally, comments made solely to point out someone’s grammar or spelling errors will be removed, and so will blanket condemnations of entire races, ethnicities, religious groups, etc.

Read what others have to say or post a comment of your own.

Let your voice be heard… Speak out!

Previous related story: Readers Speak Out! [December 2017]

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341 comments for "Readers Speak Out!"

  1. A bunch of Ledford for Mayor signs places along a street in my neighborhood disappeared.

    My first thought was “Hofbauer’s people”. He’s a dirty politician and it wouldn’t surprise me if his equally dirty supporters did the deed.

    • Yeah, that’s standard Lancaster crew Drew Mercy style. Hofbauer is in the pit with the snakes, gotta expect that kind of stuff.

    • It’s not surprising at all. When you hitch your wagon to DUI Drew Mercy and the Lancaster Machine like Hofbauer has, what do you expect? Palmdale deserves better than a blowhard.

      • Heck, if being a blowhard was the worst thing about Hofbauer I’d be less worried than I am.

        • Outstanding point. He lacks wisdom, common sense, and vision. Who would hook up with the mess that is Lancaster? If he cannot see that he is being used by them, it is also a sign of a lack of intelligence. Combine that with being a tool for Wrecks and it spells disaster for Palmdale folks. Funny how the so called ‘conservative Republicans ‘ in Lancaster are all of a sudden Socialist when it come to revenue tax sharing. Bunch of hypocrites.

          • Again, if it were just a lacking of wisdom, common sense, and vision it might not even be so bad. The big problem with Sellout Steve is that all these personal failings have led to the real problem, which is the “hooking up with that mess in Lancaster” part.

            Whether you recognize that he is being used as a tool, or believe that he isn’t just a tool and has some arrogant idea that he can use them to get into office and then not get ground into their flavor of sausage, Palmdale cannot afford to have anyone in office who refuses to acknowledge the Lancaster political machine for the threat that it is.

  2. Hey, just watched a YouTube video of my proposal on revenue sharing authority being put to the Palmdale City Council at their October meeting. Sellout Steve looked like he was about to crawl out of his skin and was chugging water like an accused sexual predator at a SCOTUS confirmation hearing. Hilarious, but unfortunately it might be too late to be effective.

    Of course, if Sellout Steve is made to answer for his opposition to a reasonable proposal that would protect Palmdale EACH AND EVERY time he shows his face maybe there is still time.

    Let’s start here. Someone let Sellout Steve know he is being asked, right here, why he opposes a measure that would remove the authority to enter bad revenue sharing deals from future councils. This seems like a fine spot for him to share his thinking and answer the question.

    • That is a great question to ask them. Why are they so interested in giving Palmdale tax dollars to Lancaster?

      Just because Lancaster is a mess doesn’t mean Palmdale should bail it out.

      Other questions to ask: Why is Sellout Steve’s campaign manager Drew Mercy, a Lancaster commissioner?

      Why is Lancaster pawn Juan Carrillo’s campaign consultant an employee of the R. Rex Parris Law Firm?

      Ask them those questions and watch them squirm.

      • Don’t forget that Hugo Estrada is also part of the Carillo campaign. He is another interloper who doesn’t live in Palmdale but is involved in the election. He claims that he is fighting for ‘his students’. Bull. He is fighting for his paycheck. Just like Wrecks employee Estrada and DUI Drew.

        • That is the prevailing belief out of most people I talk to is we already have a darn good Mayor already in Ledford. Hof goes back to being the Councilman. He has 2 years left till re-election.

        • Hugo Estrada is not an American citizen if he is the Hugo Estrada who was the head of the teacher’s union in Palmdale. Central American interference in US elections?

          • Hugo is a bully who tried to intimidate a 21 year old who was going to run for council. He is a big Carillo supporter to. It is time to rid Palmdale of negative influences like Hugo Estrada and Juan Carillo. We have a better option with Oscar Aleman.

        • I watched this video, Tim, and nowhere did I see Hofbauer do what you said he did. Nowhere was he chugging water, and looking like an accused sexual predator at a SCOTUS confirmation meeting. I didn’t hear your proposal. I will vote using facts, Tim, not vile comments about an elected official. I am happy with Mayor Ledford, and hope he is innocent of the charges against him. The words you used against an elected official are disturbing,

          • Wow. Were you expecting the proposal to be read word for word by the guy who was advocating for it? Every council member, the city manager, and the city attorney are familiar with it and have copies, so why should a guy with three minutes waste time reading it? I’ll admit that it would have been great to have copies available and handed out to everyone in the room.

            I’ve had at least a dozen people who were there comment on how “out of sorts” Hofbauer was through that entire meeting (he knew what was coming), and how his discomfort obviously peaked during that presentation. He did also go through most of his bottle of water during that three minutes, so I don’t know how you missed it. People who didn’t watch the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings may not have gotten the joke there, but I still think it was funny.

            I also think it was pretty clear that being confronted about his position against limits on revenue sharing reveals his heel, and encourage anyone who gets a chance to ask him about it for themselves, particularly at campaign appearances. The more often this happens the more people will see him for the Wrecks puppet that he is.

          • Jack C., the words and images Hofbauer has used on social media are far more disturbing than anything Tim Scott used.

          • I will stick with facts, not fabrication. Your original comment is what I referred to, and I am not a lazy voter like some on here that will accept your fabrication as truth. I am with Mayor Ledford in all that he has done for Palmdale, but I will NOT get down in the mud with your dirty tactics, just because of what others are doing. I am well aware of what is going on in Palmdale, and one anonymous commenter is not going to change my mind, especially when that anonymous commenter resorts to dirty name calling, and does not present ANY facts.

          • Is it your proposal or the guy who was supposedly reading it? The guy was reading minutes from the closed session meeting. Never mind, I already know you fabricate and embellish. Now you’re fixated on the water Hofbauer was drinking. Also, there is nothing funny about implying someone is like an accused sexual predator at a SCOTUS confirmation hearing.

          • There is nothing funny about an accused sexual predator BEING at a SCOTUS confirmation hearing. But it isn’t like I’m responsible for appointing him. I see nothing wrong of making fun of him, since ridicule is far less than he deserves but it’s all I’ve got to work with in his case.

            As to your persistence in calling me a liar despite obvious video evidence, I have to ask… reading minutes? At the 1:35 mark? Ummm…Jack, are you looking at one minute and thirty-five seconds? Try one hour and thirity-five minutes instead.

            Your inability to find the video for yourself seemed curious, and now your inability to find the freely offered time stamp when I could just say “if you watch the whole thing it’s in there” seems even more curious. Are you, perchance, just hoping people will take your word over mine, and not look to see what is there? Maybe, like…something a Hofbauer supporter or one of Mercy’s little social media operatives would like to see happening?

            Bottom line, Hofbauer has NO answer if pressed on why he wants to protect the coucil’s authority to enter bad revenue sharing deals with Lancaster. I urge EVERYONE to press him for themselves and see for themselves.

          • Tim, it is useless to try to talk sense to a Wrecks apologist. No matter how many times he sues Palmdale, bad mouths Palmdale, insults Palmdale, and tries to hurt Palmdale the Wrecks faithful and their puppets Hofbauer, Bishop, and Carrillo keep doing the will of their master. Most people I talk to understand what is going on. They are not fooled by the lies of the hit mailers. They have seen too much.

            I just sent my absentee ballot in for Ledford and Aleman. It felt good.

          • As I said in one of my original comments, East Palmdale, I support James Ledford. I have for decades, and have known him for decades (many). I don’t have anything to do with Tim’s fabrications, and embellishments, and despise his disturbing comments about Hofbauer being likened to a sexual predator. That is low and dirty, and those of us that stick with Ledford don’t stoop to that level. If Ledford wins, it will be on his merits, not vilifying the other candidate.

          • I might add, there is plenty of bad mouthing going on by the people that live in Palmdale, about Palmdale, at least the never ending comments on here. Don’t be a lazy voter, and believe anything or anyone that doesn’t back up their words with the facts, not half truths, or gossip.

          • Jack, your inability to deal with a joke about guzzling water is pretty absurd, and your repeated comments about me not backing things up even after I provided you with a video are really tiresome. “Guzzling water like a sexual predator at a SCOTUS confirmation hearing” is going to be used to describe nervous public officials squirming uncomfortably under questioning for a long time. You need to get used to it.

            The question is, why was Hofbauer so uncomfortable?

            I’m not trying to vilify any candidates. I made a simple proposal to remove a dangerous piece of authority from the hands of the city council. No matter what the outcome in November I will continue to press for that, because NO ONE can say who will be on the council in five years, or ten. But the people who are embezzling Lancaster into bankruptcy are still going to be looking for a fresh cash cow to bail them out. They didn’t push their amendment to the state constitution through because they were scheming for a revenue transfer from Rosamond or Gorman, they were after Palmdale. They still are, and they are going to continue to be for as long as they hold power in Lancaster.

            Since Hofbauer is committed to the council holding onto the authority to enter the kind of bad revenue sharing deals that Lancaster wants, it isn’t vilifying him to say that he presents a danger to Palmdale’s future, it’s just a fact.

          • Men like you and Trump that are used to making jokes about sexual assaults against women are appalling. I read your comment, and guzzling water isn’t what Jack is talking about.

          • He wasn’t squirming uncomfortably, Tim, nothing close to it. I didn’t see you there. Your so called vile comment wasn’t about guzzling water, and I don’t even want to repeat your appalling words.

          • Hi Jim. I didn’t see you there either…that I know of. Perhaps if you wore a sign around your neck next time that said “Hi I’m Jim, comment maker from the AV Times.” As to what you didn’t see about Hofbauer…were you looking? He was a continuous rustling papers, looking away, playing with pencils, drinking water, no eye contacting shadow of his usual self. He didn’t have his usual self aggrandizing comment to append to every interaction of the council, which I thought was an improvement actually, but there’s no question that he was off his usual game.

            I find all this “didn’t see you there” stuff really hilarious. Hofbauer himself blathered at me a couple times on various social media for being “just an internet troll” since I “never bother to show up at meetings.” I asked him the same thing I’ll ask you; do you think you know what I look like? If not, how do you know where I do or do not show up?

            When Hofbauer knew that “Tim Scott” had been invited to meet with him and I showed up I’m sure he flashed back to the fair number of times that he has met me before at different events and considered how the words he was eating tasted. I hope someday you put two and two together and choke on yours as well.

          • LOL…you knew everyone there, eh Jim? Every single union member in that standing room only crowd that turned out to support you know by name, eh? That’s a totally outlandish claim. I may not use my real name when I make comments here, but at least I don’t tell obvious whoppers like that one.

            How about the guy with the fence problem Jim? What’s his name? Did you check his ID?

            How about the guy who ranted about the swap meet? Do you know him Jim? Close personal friend? I’d actually like to meet that guy. Can you introduce us?

            What about the guy who presented my proposal to the council Jim? Did you introduce yourself to him? If I ask him about knowing some guy named Jim who was at that council meeting with us is he gonna say he knows you?

            How about William, who comments on this site Jim? Did you know he was there? Are you claiming that you know him too?

            Now that you’ve shown that you aren’t concerned about getting caught making wild claims, what do you do next Jim? Tell us you were checking IDs?

          • ‘Jim’ is with the same group of Wrecks supporters telling the trades union people that Ledford is not running for mayor and they should donate to Hofbauer. Nothing but a bunch of Wrecks loving con artists and phonies. Their desperation is showing.

          • LOL…yeah, that ploy shows the massive brainpower of Drew Mercy. Like people are gonna look at their ballot and just not notice that Ledford’s name is on it because Drew’s minions said he wasn’t running. I think Mercy got his rep as a “bulldog political operative’ by running campaigns in the rigged Lancaster elections and acting like his campaigning influenced the purchased outcome. If someone with even moderate skills comes for his candidate he’s revealed as just a small town clown.

          • I was at the council meeting and the first thing I noticed was that Hofbauer looked meek and diminished, not his usual pompous self. He looked like he already lost the election.

            Other than meeting with the gang in Lancaster, it seems that Hofbauer doesn’t spend much time in City Hall doing his job as a council member. Yet, he takes credit for everything.

            What has Hofbauer actually accomplished for the city? His bio in the sample ballot mailer says he’s a “local town hero”. Boy, is he full of himself.

  3. More Communist Chinese spying.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

    It doesn’t stop Rex and his clueless followers from getting in bed with the Communist Chinese and inviting them to set up shop in the AV right next to Plant 42 where our nation’s most sensitive military projects are being developed.

    But, hey, we’ve got lots of nice, new shiny buses that break down all over town.

    Useful idiots, all of them.

    • With the likes of Parris, Crist and Hofbauer Lancaster has a solid team of clueless elected officials

  4. Kavanaugh’s crybady stint on tv yesterday made me want to turn up the music and put my hand over his mouth.

  5. Well, I had an interesting breakfast today with Sellout Steve Hofbauer. Despite telling him repeatedly that I’m pretty much a one issue guy I had to rein him back in what felt like a hundred times. He REALLY doesn’t want to talk about much other than Ledford. Anyway, on the issue that matters…

    His backing from the power brokers in Lancaster doesn’t mean they own him…trust him…it’s not something to worry about just a monster under the bed.

    The corruption in Lancaster isn’t something to worry about…he sees no indication they are even interested in Palmdale…that’s not something to worry about just a monster under the bed.

    The Lancaster power brokers being behind putting revenue sharing into the hands of the council instead of the voters after their last revenue sharing plot fell apart is ancient history…he’s not worried about history, it’s just a monster under the bed.

    Revenue sharing isn’t a potential problem currently…there’s that proposal from Lancaster earlier this year but he sees no indication that the power brokers in Lancaster are even thinking about such a thing…that’s not something to worry about just a monster under the bed.

    The fact that this authority over revenue sharing has never come up in eighteen years doesn’t mean that such authority should be turned over to “mere stupid voters” rather than held by the council, because, well something might be right around the corner even though Lancaster hasn’t shown any interest other than that proposal they made recently…and his reluctance to let that authority revert to the mere stupid voters isn’t cause for alarm…it’s just a monster under the bed.

    FOLKS, THERE’S A MONSTER UNDER THE BED. BETTER STOP SELLOUT STEVE BEFORE HE FEEDS YOU TO IT.

    I say you, not us, because I’ve divested myself of all my investments in Palmdale. If you vote for this monster it’s really no skin to me…I got my skin out of the game because I recognize that Wrecks and his cronies are relentless and they only have to win once to loot Palmdale. Keeping a grip on the council will be child’s play compared to the difficulty they are battling through to get that grip.

    Good luck and God bless.

    PS…on the lighter side it was amusing to dispatch his theory that I’m actually Jim Ledford.

    • Either Hofbauer is dumber than a door nail or as dirty as the Lancaster Political Machine. Maybe he is both.

      He has proven again why he is not fit to be mayor, or council man for that matter.

      He fits on much better in Lancaster. They deserve each other.

      • He certainly proved it to me, though admittedly my mind was fairly well made up from previous encounters. What I found discouraging was his obvious willingness to disregard me as “the only person who cares about this.” If that’s true, or even close enough to true that he can adopt that response without any consequence at the polls, then Palmdale is doomed.

        • You are right. Palmdale is doomed if he and the Lancaster Political Machine get control. It is bad enough that they own Hofbauer, Bishop, and Carillo. If Hofbauer wins, they will put another Sellout on the council and it is game over.

          But he has to win first. Most people I know have him figured out.

          • Time will tell if Palmdale voters are as stupid as Lancaster voters. If they are then why stay? We do not need two Lancasters or one big Lancaster with Rex at the helm.

          • I spoke with a Lancaster politician that I’m not going to name. It was awkward and I don’t know what it means. What I sensed was that Lancaster was not against the Palmdale Power Plant but just wanted Lancaster residents to believe that was their stand. It kind of makes sense though it’s completely a hunch.

          • Just Saying, if you believe anything that these Rex puppets tell you, then I have some beachfront property in Kansas to sell you.

            Rex told the paper that it is on his bucket list to kill the power plant. He and his hand picked council, along with his disciples on the Palmdale council, will do anything they can to stop it, including forcing Palmdale to join the flawed Lancaster Choice energy plan.

            Talk to the many unhappy Choice customers to get the real story.

    • Hofbauer is full of it. He knows full well what their intentions are. He was at the Lancaster Sheriff’s Booster club fundraiser talking about it. So was Bishop and Carillo. People heard them talking.
      He can’t be trusted.

      • Marv Crist is dragging Hofbauer around the AV to get endorsements and money. It is not going well. His campaign manager, Drew Mercy, or DUI Drew, is owned by Rex Parris due to his personal failures. Only the uninformed or corrupted are on his train.

        • Prominent among Sellout Steve’s financial supporters:

          A business in the Lancaster Auto Mall, but of course no Palmdale car dealerships.

          An LA real estate developer, well known for paying ‘administrative fines’ to avoid further investigation of his laundering contributions in previous campaigns.

          Clearly the favored choice of people we can count on to have Palmdale’s best interests at heart.

          • Kathy Job Killer McLauren is also a big Sellout Steve supporter. She helped kill the Kinkisharo manufacturing plant under some so called environmental group that was a union ploy. But she and Sellout Steve have been funded by IBEW, who continues to bow down to Rex and the Lancaster gang. They own Carillo too.

    • I’m not voting for Steve Hofbauer, but I know he doesn’t think you’re Mayor Ledford. I also know you are the one that thinks other commenters are Steve Hofbauer. As far as the monster under the be, well, “embrace your fear.”

      • Funny how the person that told me that Hofbauer thought “Tim Scott” was really Ledford was Sellout Steve himself…but I guess you would know more about what he thinks than he does.

        • I don’t believe that he told you that. Because you say it happened is not factual, but you have definitely posted that you thought commenters were Steve Hofbauer. Maybe you have documentation to back up this conversation, or maybe it was a backroom thing where there were no witnesses. Opinions here don’t count, nor does “because I told you so count.”

          • Comments (opinions), are just that. Unfortunately the ones that have nothing good to say about the elected officials in Palmdale, comment often with half truths, you know, a little here and a little there, that destroy reputations of the elected officials. You don’t even care about searching out the facts. You read the comments (opinions) long enough, and you begin to call it truth.

          • Anyone who wants to ask Hofbauer if he had breakfast with me knows where to contact him.

            See, that’s the thing Alexis. You stand around stamping your little foot in that red haze of rage that you have whenever you see my name…but I post things that can be checked, where you just scream “don’t believe him, believe meeeeeeeeeee.” Why should anyone?

          • By the way, while it doesn’t prove that I got up and went, you can look on Facebook at the AVTimes story about the bus service to plant 42 dated Sept 25th and see where he publicly invited me to meet and I accepted. I found his Dirty Harry reference to be particularly hilarious.

            By the way, I saw him again last night, at the city council meeting. Archive footage should be available on the city website, so when Alexis stamps her little foot and says ‘don’t believe him, believe meeeeeeeee,” once again people can check for themselves.

          • There is no rage here, Tim. You’re not understanding that when I say I look for facts, not opinions, it has nothing to do with rage or stamping my little foot. You see, Tim, nowhere did I say you didn’t have breakfast with Hofbauer. I asked if you had documentation, right? Rage is negative energy, and that is what you do. I asked you if you have documentation to back up your so called conversation. Typical Tim move is to say I’m screaming because I ask a very simple question. When I ask Hofbauer whether he talked to you, about you being Mayor Ledford, what name should I give him?

          • You can use Tim Scott, since that’s the name I use on Facebook, which is where he invited me to meet him.

            It’s funny that you are stamping around in your red haze asking for “documentation,” because Sellout Steve’s paranoia prompted him to fret about whether I was recording our conversation.

      • Every Palmdale resident should be afraid of the Lancaster monster under the bed. Rex and the Lancaster Political Machine already have their claws in Hofbauer, Bishop, and Carillo. Unless you want Palmdale to become owned and operated like Lancaster under Rex and the Machine, be wise at the polls this year. Lancaster and their operatives do NOT have Palmdale residents best interests in mind. They have their own interests. Good for them. Bad for Palmdale and its residents.

        • Be an informed voter, and please don’t automatically believe these commenters are telling the whole truth. Put in your work, and gather facts, not opinions.

          • Please do. Talk to Hofbauer. Get right in his face and ask him why he opposes the proposal to limit city council authority over revenue sharing. Push through his endless maundering accusations at Ledford and ask him what he has done and what he plans to do for Palmdale.

            Ledford’s not perfect, and I’ve never said he is…but one thing is rock solid certain. Ledford will never sell us out to Lancaster. That’s what this campaign by Hofbauer and his backers is all about, and that’s all Hofbauer has to say for himself…they want rid of Ledford. Hofbauer has nothing to say about what he will do as mayor, but he certainly doesn’t want any limit on his ability to enter a revenue sharing deal with Lancaster.

            Ask him for yourselves. That goes double for you Alexis.

          • Follow the money and you’ll see who is backing Hofbauer and Carillo. Lou Gonzales of the LANCASTER AUTO MALL. IBEW and KATHY MACLAUREN who are in bed with Rex. If the trade unions know that MACLAUREN killed the construction of the Kinkisharo Manufacturing facility they would not support her or Hofbauer who continues to make excuses for her.

            Carillos consultant is an R. Rex Parris law firm EMPLOYEE. Hofbauer’s campaign is being run by DREW MERCY a Lancaster commissioner.

            Follow the influence. Hofbauer and Carillo met with LANCASTER officials over sales tax revenue sharing and joining Lancaster’s joke of a power provider.

            Hofbauer and the AVTA BOARD supported the GAS TAX but are scrambling now to deny it.The document PROVE IT.

            Yes, become an informed voter. It’s all there in the DOCUMENTS, NEWS STORIES and FACEBOOK. Get your copy of the FINANCE STATEMENTS. They are free of charge.

          • Be an informed voter, and please don’t automatically stick your head in the sand and believe the politicians who get money from Lancaster are telling the whole truth. Put in your work, and gather fact, not opinions, and you will see what is happening. It’s not good.

    • I see that Drew Mercy is running Steve Hofbauers campaign. Alfonso who works for Rex is Juan Carrillo Campaign manager. These guys are not volunteers as they get paid for their mischief. Rex pays and these guys meddle and that is just plain wrong for Palmdale.

      • Carrillo, who blew off supporting the proposal to limit the council’s authority to make bad revenue sharing deals earlier this year, appears to have blown it off again…despite again acting like he was supportive. These Rex supported guys certainly pretend a lot.

  7. RIP Kinetic Brewery and Restaurant. The latest in a long line of BLVD business failures. Like the once ballyhooed Bex, Kinetic was another business sold a bill of goods by Rex and the boys on a BLVD that is more friendly to panhandling, tattoo parlors, hookers, druggies, and punks than the general consumer.

    Start your business on the BLVD at your own risk.

    The BLVD. Where businesses come to die.

    • kinetic is going out of business? I searched this site for an article and found nothing. can you link me or tell me more about this if you get the chance? kinetic seemed like one of the only nice places left on the blvd. the homeless situation there is just awful. I have a heart, I know times are tough or whatever, but if I go to 1800 (the burrito place) on my lunch break and sit outside I literally get asked every 2 minutes by someone for change. or they will sit down and no offense the smell of them makes me lose my appetite.
      one guy even asked if he could eat my leftovers. like…eat the same burrito that i was eating and didnt finish. I said okay, but it really gave me the willys to see a man eat the same burrito i was just eating

      • Kinetic sent a message out to its followers. Yes it is sad but what is sadder is the deception that this mayor and his spineless council have cast regarding the BLVD. It is poorly conceived and can’t help but to attract panhandling and druggies. No business in their right mind would open there. If Lemon Leaf leaving isn’t a sign then nothing is.

  9. Lancaster Blvd is hardly what I would call a dangerous place. It’s Lancaster, it has always sucked. Dangerous, not so much.
    Baghdad is dangerous, Mexico is dangerous, Naples Italy is dangerous.
    Lancaster Blvd. is just lame.

    • Mexico? The entire country? You need to get out more.

      But, yeah, calling Lancaster Blvd “dangerous” is pretty ridiculous.

      • The BLVD is not dangerous by world standards. It is a poorly designed, poorly lacking wannabe downtown. It is populated by tattoo parlors, wildly unspectacular eateries, second or third class entertainment, and plenty of homeless and panhandlers. But definitely not dangerous during daylight.

        • “…wildly unspectacular…” Never heard that before. I love it.

          What it needs is a giant picture of parris a la Chairman Mao on a wall somewhere.

          • I heard that when Rex and Marv were meeting with Hofbauer, Bishop, and Carrillo at Bex to discuss their plans to take Palmdale’s tax dollars that they would hang a portrait of Rex in velvet on the wall. Hofbauer was enamored with it and is rumored to have hired the Velveteria curators to have a portrait made in his likeness for when he becomes mayor.

  10. Why do most of the homes have guard gates and steel bars on the windows like they’re in South Africa?
    Oh, the joys of living in third world USA

      • Yah right..We know he said it.. Here’s fake news Trump is great at pointing people’s ethnicity…Sike he’s great at botching what he says

        • Just wondering..Have Rex invested in better cops to find the home invasion robbers..oh wait..maybe there the ones allowing it or maybe they on a break too..coffee donuts weed anyone…

          • Rex does not invest in Sherriffs.Rex does not invest in Sherriffs.He wastes our tax dollars in LEAPS.He wastes our tax dollars on LEAPS.LEAPS is useless.LEAPS is useless.$90,000.00 a month to do nothing.$90,000.00 a month to do nothing.Except fly around and pollute the air.Except fly around and pollute the air.It is owned by a Rex contributor.It is owned by a Rex contributor.Total cost is $10,800,00.00.Total cost is $10,800,000.00.Thst could be used for Sherriffs.That could be used for Sherriffs.To fight crime.To fight crime.Instead of making money for Rex’s pal.Instead of making money for Rex’s pal. No to LEAPS.No to LEAPS.Yes to Sherriffs.Yes to Sherriffs.Morr boots on the ground..More boots on the ground.No to LEAPS.No to LEAPS.

    • I did not vote for Donald Trump, but I can’t see where he said “just Puerto Ricans.” The first part is correct. where did you read that he said the last part of the quote?

      • The last part is added as the only possible way to bridge between his statement and the truth.

        Wait, I guess I should have just assumed that he was lying, big and bald faced, when he said that 3000 people didn’t die.

        • 3000+ included old age, malaria, heart attacks, strokes, armed robbery and everyone that died during those months. Would have been close to 3000 in a normal period without hurricane.

          Fake news. Groupthink. Man, you guys are haters that don’t really want us (US) to succeed, do you???

          • @Trumpist #!

            It’s YOUR hate that got trump elected as well as your fellow trumpists around the country.

            “I love the uneducated.” Donald J. Trump

            Hate goes well with ignorance and boxed wine or generic beer.

  12. Found out what BLVD stands for. Bearded Lawyers Vain Display or Backup Lane Vehicle Destroyer

  13. Wow! Did you see the video of Saturday night/Sunday morning on the BLVD? Bunch of young people chanting F the police on Rex’s Blessed Blvd. What a joke the BLVD is. One failed business after another. Totally unsafe. A panhandler’s paradise. Drugs and hookers. Thank Rex. Glad we’re spending $10 Million on LEAPS to keep us safe.

    • I actually like the way the BLVD looks.. And Rex does not have the smarts to solve the homeless problem. Actually every time I see him speak on TV I imagine him in an old folks home, which is where someone old and senile like him would be if he was not wealthy.

      • It looks okay. If the objective were to build a mile long park with mostly pavement and some trees it would be somewhat effective. As a “commercial hub” it is a dismal failure. That isn’t the fault of homeless people, that’s just a poor plan executed badly.

        As an “attraction” it’s even worse. Picture a person hopping out of bed on a Saturday morning saying “let’s go see the aerospace walk of fame.” Who are they, and how far are they going to go for this outing? People in freaking Rosamond have better things to do than drive to Lancaster to see the Aerospace walk of fame, and people in Rosamond are generally far more interested in aerospace than average.

      • Didn’t rex have a health issue affecting his brain function? I think it was prostate cancer.

        • Rex’s brain function is unrelated to his health. He’s always been a nut job. In his words, he’s ‘different’.

          From the Vice article where he claimed he was increasing the numbers of Asians and ‘the Gays’ to lower crime.

          “I’m different. When you’re rich, you can be different — it’s called eccentric. When you’re poor and different, you’re weird and shunned.”

          Bird sounds to lower crime. A $10 million dollar Eye in the Sky boondoggle. Black paint to fix roads. Ecolution. Suing American Legion Posts over a baseball game incident in a game of pickle. Putting a big box store that no one wants next to a high school. Getting into an altercation with a resident in a gym. Calling an African American veteran a ‘gang candidate’.

          Rex sure is ‘different’.

    • Just noticed the Fitness Center on the BLVD on the S/W corner of Sierra Hwy is closed with a lease sign posted. It seems like its rotating businesses. With all the “brains” in city government, you’d think someone would figure out how to keep businesses. What do you think Rex?

      • Maybe the owners were wearing neckties and the 7.5 percent reduction of blood flow to their brain as Rex says and it prevented them from developing a clear business plan.

        The BLVD. Where businesses go to die.

        • Fitness Center with no accessible parking on a street that is a nightmare to drive. I wonder what went wrong?

  14. SCAM!! I recently received a phone from a man threatening to tortue & Kill a family member..Several men were put on the line..I was on the phone over 2 hrs..They told me I needed To pay them $10,000..They put someone on the phone pretending to be my family member being tortured..I believed them.. My mind was racing..What am I going to do?..Is This Real?..For over 2 hrs I dealt with uncertainty..I tried gaining help from several different people all the while on the phone with these people. .. Than finally the police came to me while on the phone laughing telling me its a SCAM…Than I realized try get information for the police to use to catch these fxxxenAxxxxxxx people.. Then the police said they can’t do anything for me to just to hangup the phone all my family members are accounted for..All the while laughing talking to each other..I felt like a fool..Than I was angry..Still I tried to get the police do something anything..Go through with the plan to go to the bank set these guys up..Fake give them money.They surely can be caught..Again the police stated we don’t have the man power or resources to do anything…Fuming Angry I refused to hang up the phone than an officer brought his phone to record there voices…I talked back and forth with these law breakers these people who claimed to be from The Sinoloa Cartel…Looking Back I realized a lot of the information Threats said was words repeated from a series on Netflix or was it Hulu Im not sure ..about Chino Gutierrez the Mafia Guy captured in Cuba I think…Either way I feel like a fool and So Angry with Police not doing more to catch them…You see I am not the only victim..Many have gone through what I’v been through…I have lived in The Antelope Valley 25 yrs..When are police and people going to do there jobs?..I have many horror stories From Road Rage, School Problems ..Police discrimination..I have seen the AV change throughout the years..I am not happy..When are people..Communities ..individuals Gonna take a Stand and help..John Ledford tried and look what The Antelope Valley is doing to him..When are people gonna put differences aside and help…make a stand..The Antelope Valley is my home..my childrens home and my Grand children’s home..hOw do we make it safe..Communication doesn’t seem to be working…Thank You to the few officers who tried to help..But if your not trying catch Criminals what are you paid to do…Keep The Peace..I am not at Peace until we get The AV to be a Safe & Better Place.

    • Crime rates are actually down from “the good old days” when there were fifty thousand people in the valley and a good number of them could have called “Deliverance” their life story. Try not to let the fact that a rural community keeps all their ugliness under wraps fool you…things are waaaaaaay better around here than they were a few decades ago.

        • These calls are nearly always from outside the country. Usually in unfriendly areas that have no extradition. This makes any law enforcement effort a complete waste of time. Just hang up and contact the relative and have a good laugh about it.
          Also expect similar groups to claim a relative is in jail and demand bail money.

    • My daughter got that call, they pretended to torture me, she told them they did not have her father since she was looking at him. Good times.

    • I didn’t get that phone call, but if I did, I would tell them to go ahead and do what they want with my family, since they’re already dead anyway.

      • Thinking back to the phone call..I remember thinking The guys on the phone sounded so fake and now thinking about it I laugh because they had the fakest accents and Gangster talk just like those horrible Gangster movies..

    • I cannot believe you stayed on the phone for 2 hours. You have to be careful now days, people are trying to get your money all the time. Next time just think to yourself, could this be real? A scam? I block any calls I do not recognize. Good Luck

  15. The Rancho Vista Homeowners Association unanimously endorsed Steve Hofbauer for City Council Seat #2. Steve has served the entire City of Palmdale for many years on both the Planning Commission and the Council. Now there, something positive instead of the vicious mudslinging that goes on here.

    • It is really unfortunate that after such a career Sellout Steve opted to serve his masters in Lancaster instead of the people of Palmdale. Guess his ego just forced him to take a shot at running for mayor no matter the cost to his integrity.

      By the way, speaking of mud-slinging, check out the BS that Sellout Steve is peddling about Mayor Ledford.

      • Then that makes you no better than him, and I am sure you both justify your actions as being the righteous one. Your both dirty, and have the same mind-set.

        • Difference being…I’m not a candidate and don’t ask people to vote for me. I don’t pretend to be outraged about something one minute and then pretend that I don’t do the same thing in hopes of looking like anything other than what I am.

          That’s why I always use the same screen name, while Slimy Steve and his little cadre of internet minions try to act like a bunch of different screen names makes them a bunch of different people. Outraged “dislike mud-slinging” one minute, mudslinging namecaller the next.

          The funny thing is that so many people have claimed that “Tim Scott works for the AVTimes.” Aren’t you the least bit worried that they might be right, and that I can look at the incoming data and identify all the different names attached to the same IP address? Even identify which of you are Slimy Steve himself?

          • What lies has Tim Scott made? I have not seen one yet. I don’t agree with him a lot of the time, but I haven’t seen any lies.

          • Thanks Larry. A lot of people cannot tell the difference between “I disagree” and “that’s a lie.” Sad, really.

          • It’s hard to imagine what Mayor Ledford’s opponents in this valley will say or do if he is found not guilty of any and all charges against him.

            They are putting all their chips on this trial.

            Are they gonna follow trump’s example and say the trial was rigged, unfair, illegitimate or what-have-you?

            While I find it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Mayor Ledford would intentionally do anything unethical or illegal, I do know that his opposition is the worst of the worst as far as elected officials go, i.e. rex & co.

            If Mayor Ledford was all about using his office to make money, he’d be a multi-millionaire by now after being mayor for so many years. Like his role model trump, rex has used his office to further his business interests in various questionable ways. Plastering his law firm’s name on public transportation that as mayor he had a hand in having it use electric busses may be legal but unseemly. An ethical mayor wouldn’t do that. Is rex ethical? There is only one answer.

            If Mayor Ledford is found “Not guilty” by a jury, there should be some consequences for those who have worked to ruin him in the eyes of the public and maybe financially. If only that were part of the system.

            Given rex & his feckless minions, they will likely redouble their efforts again and again…..the very definition of insanity.

  16. An Open Letter to R. Rex Parris
    As a Republican I am saddened and embarrassed for the city of Lancaster and what has happened to our town. The BLVD is a failure and homelessness is at an epidemic level. I drove through East Lancaster yesterday and found the homeless camps on 10th East and Ave H, the west side at the freeway and Avenue K, Avenue G and Avenue H, not to mention those that are on the freeway ramps and our shopping centers. WTF happened Rex? Why is the city dumping millions into failed projects while our people live in motor homes in the desert, in tents along the freeway and in homemade shelters in the desert? I saw children there with their parents. As a community we should be ashamed of what is happening in plain site. Blame it on Los Angeles, blame it on Moonbeam, blame it on Trump, it doesn’t matter, it’s a human issue and no matter what planet their from or their ethnic group, it’s your responsibility as the leader of this city to do something, anything other then mouthing it. Man, talk about an issue that not only affects these people, but what does that say about us as a city?
    Thanks for your time Rex, cause I know you read this stuff.
    Alex

    • You can’t blame Rex. All his stupid ideas and programs were caused by the lack of blood flowing to his brain from wearing neckties.

      • No. The eyes of freedom will always see through the blindfolds of tyranny. And the bonds of oppression will always be broken with muscles of liberty.

      • To some extent this is true. Rex is caught between his ego, which is pierced severely by the fact that Ledford and Palmdale are clearly doing way better than he is doing with Lancaster, and the wallets of his cabal buddies and himself, who are enriching themselves at Lancaster’s expense. His only choices are to try to compete by being a good mayor, which would cut into their graft income, or find a way to drag the competition down…like forcing a mayor as incompetent and corrupt as Rex himself onto Palmdale.

        Enter Sellout Steve Hofbauer.

          • So check it out for yourself.

            I’m not trying to be believed. I’m just pointing a direction that people can and should look for themselves.

          • Ways to not lie without telling the truth: withholding and cheery-picking data – holding some data back and thus tell only (your) part of the truth; you can select only the data you like. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, “it depends on what the meaning of the word ‘truth’ is.”

          • Graft income- LEAPS. Non bid projects, most recently the so called homeless shelter in Lancaster. The buildings built by Visco and rented to the county for social services. The illegally purchased property where Parris’ law offices are. The position created for George Runner. The AV Fairground property. Ecolution.

            Sellout Steve Hofbauer – Campaign manager is DUI Drew Mercy, Lancaster political hack and Planning Commissioner. Supported by Parris and Crist, both of who sued Palmdale, Parris multiple times. Hofbauer supports ‘Job Killer’ MacLaren who killed the permanent Kinkisharyo site. Hofbauer signed a letter of support for the gas tax on the AVTA. Hofbauer supported Lancaster Choice over his own power plant. Hofbauer supported all electric busses with no regard to the cost coming to his constituents when grant funding runs out and despite problems with BYD. Hofbauer met with Lancaster city council over sales tax sharing which would funnel money from Palmdale to Lancaster. Hofbauer has posted several racist memes on Facebook. Hofbauer is being financed by the Lancaster political machine. Why?

            Do your own homework. I have done mine. Hofbauer is a fool, unfit to lead, and a tool for the Lancaster political machine.

          • Hofblower needs to see an optometrist. He has a severe ‘I’ problem. He takes credit for everything. He needs to own up to his racist memes and selling out to Rex. He never will because he is incapable. I would call him a moron but that would be an insult to morons.

          • It is kinda entertaining watching Sellout Steve try to claim credit for everything the city got accomplished while he was on the city council, since usually he was the grumbling opposition and never took the lead on much of anything that turned out good.

          • Kinkisharyo: E. Ave. P, Palmdale Ca. You three must tune into that conspiracy theorist guy. Rest your minds fellas, you’ve been up too long, LOL.

          • It’s interesting that five minutes after Facebook notified Sellout Steve that I had replied to a couple of his posts this “Conspiracy is everywhere” guy shows up here raving incoherently.

            Is that you Sellout Steve?

          • Kinkisharyo is leasing E. Ave. P, Palmdale Ca. They were going to build a permanent facility until the unions under some newly created ‘environmental’ group featuring Kathy ‘Job Killer’ Maclauren fought it.

            The article is here – https://www.theavtimes.com/2014/10/07/residents-offer-solution-to-kinkisharyo-to-mitigate-environmental-concerns/.

            Funny how the day after Kinkisharyo dropped their plans to build a permanent site, ‘Job Killer’s’ pal Rexie offered a site in Lancaster. What a coincidence.

            Think of the hundreds of union construction jobs lost thanks to ‘Job Killer’ Maclauren. But as Marvie likes to say, construction jobs are just temporary jobs. Like the temporary jobs in those solar farms in Lancaster.

            Funny how the ‘Great Environmentalist’ Job Killer has no problem with the pollution and Valley Fever caused by the solar farms.

            Bunch of hypocrites.

          • Alexis…I’m not one of them, but a lot of people are hung up on the construction jobs that would have been involved in building a new facility rather than leasing the existing building. You are correct though that the long term jobs inside the building would be the same either way.

            In the long term, if there IS any difference it would likely be from Northrop. Their current string of successes with new programs and expansion might not be doing as much for Palmdale since they can’t expand into those buildings. Some of their expansion might end up elsewhere…but that’s totally hypothetical, they may not have wanted to take over a site on the far side of the runway, they may not have wanted to put more of their expansion in Palmdale in the first place, or their current buildings may be big enough anyway. No way to know, really, what ‘might have been.’

          • This new Palmdale majority led by Steve Hofbauer is as self centered as it comes. These guys have no experience in creating a vision only destroying the vision that has carried Palmdale to the most favored City status in the AV. Oh yea they are good at promoting Lancaster’s vision. This new majority of Hofbauer, Carrillo and Bishop sell outs at best!

        • The current jobs at Kinkisharyo are great. They will last as long as the contract lasts.
          A permanent site would have meant construction jobs and more contract work not tied into Metro. Thanks to the help of ‘Job Killer’ Maclauren, Kinkisharyo is, how do you say in Japanese, sayonara baby when that runs out. It was a nice run.

          That is the cold, hard truth.

          • That’s a great theory, but it doesn’t hold up if you look at Kinkisharyo’s history. They have ALWAYS moved on at the end of a contract, whether they were in a leased building where they let the lease run out, or in a building they purchased and then sold. “We will be doing our production nearby, with local labor,” is always part of their pitch. That’s how they do business and it has been effective for them, and that is the cold hard truth. The idea that they were going to change their business model if only they could be convinced to build a facility in the AV instead of leasing was a pipe dream.

          • Hate to disagree with you Tim Scott, but they were going to build a permanent facility and decided not to due to the actions of that group. That is a fact, not a theory. It had nothing to do with changing a business model. It had everything to do with the union and their strong armed tactics. In doing so, they screwed many union brothers and sisters who work construction out of three years’ work. What’s even stranger is if they had just waited for Kinkisharyo to build the facility, they would have easily been able to make it a union shop.

            It is a shame.

          • Union Made, where are you getting “they were going to build a permanent facility”? They never had before, and they have had many previous contracts just like the one they were negotiating at the time. They never claimed that they would do anything but what they did before. They said they would build a facility in the area and use local labor for the contract, which is what they did.

            Kinkisharyo never said anything about “permanent.” They say the same thing in every bid they enter, and they come through. But they aren’t going to tie themselves down in a permanent facility and eliminate one of the points that helps them win bids. Every facility they build, whether it is in an existing shell or a new building, is for the life of the contract, not forever.

            I know a lot of local politicos were blowing smoke about a permanent facility. I know wishful thinking can make “build a facility and use local labor” SOUND LIKE something permanent. But unless you can show me somewhere that Kinkisharyo put such a claim in writing I’m going to remain convinced it was all wishful thinking and smoke blowing, with Kinkisharyo nodding along and knowing they had been slightly misunderstood…as usual.

          • It was covered extensively in the Antelope Valley Press in October 2015. Here is a snippet

            Kinkisharyo says ‘sayonara’
            By: Charles F. Bostwick
            PALMDALE – City leaders’ hopes
            for a new factory employing
            hundreds were dashed when a
            Japanese rail car firm announced
            it was dropping its plans to build
            a 250-worker Palmdale
            manufacturing plant, though it
            will continue to assemble rail cars
            in a leased building adjoining Air
            Force Plant 42.
            In a letter made public Monday, Kinkisharyo International told city officials
            it was formally withdrawing its permit application to build a 427,500-
            square-foot manufacturing and assembly facility at Sierra Highway and
            Columbia Way (Avenue M), saying it will look for a location outside
            California because opposition from union leaders made moving forward
            too risky.
            “Frankly, this is devastating,” Mayor Jim Ledford said.
            But the mayor said city officials have not given up hope that the
            manufacturing work could be done in the leased former B-1B bomber
            factory, where rail cars are being assembled under contracts worth up to
            $891 million from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
            Authority.
            “We are making phone calls and we are looking to get anybody who can
            possibly help to help,” Ledford said last Monday.

            I concur with Mayor Ledford. This was devastating.

          • The law firm Adams Broadwell Joseph and Cardozo has been accused on other construction projects of union “greenmail” activities. This means they are accused of filing challenges under California environmental laws until the companies they target relent and agree to hire union workers. Kinkisharyo has a contract to fulfill, and they ended up staying in Palmdale and hiring, I believe, 250 workers. Everything ended up well for Palmdale People that aren’t in the union need to feed their families also. Kinkisharyo remained neutral.

      • Crime is down in Palmdale by about 4%. Crime is up in Lancaster by 18%. These numbers come from……….(wait for it)…….LANCASTER’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION!! These are not phony numbers made up by Palmdale!

        For all of the money that Rex is spending on the “Eye In the Sky,” it seems that we would be much better off with some “boots on the ground!” I mean, come on! $90k per month to fly an airplane around? The one time that the EITS would have been beneficial would have been for Sgt. Owen’s killer. The only problem is, the EITS DOESN’T EVEN FLY IN A ROUTE that would have benefited the search!

        The thing is a massive boondoggle that slurps tax money and puts it into the pocket of the political machine.

    • Thats for Sure..In the last 25yrs The Antelope Valley may have progressed but I don’t see the Better..

  18. Another day and another business closes on the BLVD. RIP Hot Rod Dogz. It wasn’t technically on the BLVD like the other businesses that closed like Bex, Barones, Brittney’s, Perkies, Eat Well, Vintage Styles, etc., but it was part of the BLVD hype.

    Hype is all that the BLVD really is. Poorly designed, with too many social services in close proximity to a park that attracts panhandlers and addicts. Too many tattoo parlors and no real shopping opportunities. It’s a nightmare to drive with no real reason to drive there except for an occasional performance at LPAC and one of the non-alcohol based events.

    This is what the Lancaster politics has delivered and what they are trying to replicate. I ain’t buying what they’re selling.

    • Most of those homeless are not panhandlers and addicts, although some are.Veterans that came back from defending our country make up a rather high percentage. They are human beings in need of help. Too many people like you in ignorance, that make broad generalizations of a group of people that you know nothing about.

      • Alexis, who said anything about homeless? Or veterans? Do you read before you post? Many panhandlers are scammers and not homeless. There is a veterans home down the street. Yes, more needs to be done to help veterans and address homeless.

        That has nothing to do with the poor design of the BLVD. It was designed to make Rex’s friends money. Some of them make it on owning buildings they can rent to agencies. Some own the buildings and charge rent, sometimes forcing businesses out, like Maribels. Why are there so many tattoo parlors on one street? Why do so many businesses fail there?

        • Yes, JPB, I read your post, and I know exactly what you said! Here’s the clue; social services, panhandlers, and addicts. I know what you meant, and you know what you meant. You’re like most shameless people that speak about the homeless like they are sub-human. Speak about the poor design of the BLVD, but you had to demonize the less fortunate. Play your silly word games. You don’t have a clue whether those panhandlers and addicts are scammers or not. to you they are all the same.

          • Alexis, you are clueless. I mean truely clueless.

            You clearly have poor reading comprehension skills. Not once did I mention homeless and you go on a tirade. Not once. Please do not put words in my mouth. You are sounding as misleading as our fearless leader Rex.

            You have still failed to address the point made about the BLVD being poorly designed. It was and now people are losing businesses because of it. Except for Rex and his cohorts.

            Scamming panhanlers are quite common.

          • @JPB…Your fearless leader, and apparently the fearless leaders in Palmdale are the more sophisticated scamming panhandlers. The BLVD is poorly designed, and has nothing to do with panhandlers, and addicts. You had to just throw that in with your comment about a poorly designed BLVD. Panhandlers, and addicts are the least of your worries when you have the powerful undermining this nation. When you see a gathering of those less fortunate, why don’t you consider handing out water? All human beings need water.

          • Clueless Alexis. You have no idea what I have done, what I am doing, or what I plan to and will do to alleviate human suffering on the BLVD or anywhere on the planet. You are apparently incapable of reading comprehension and have a judgemental and accusing spirit. I will no longer waste my precious time debating with someone with your level of incompetence and lack of discernment. Good evening.

          • JPB.

            Alexis, the all-knowing, knows what she thinks you meant and your actually words are meaningless to her.

            Plus, her own words are apparently meaningless to her as well as she tosses them about with little care. She’s a cornucopia spewing word salads on every subject on this site.

            Just ask her. She knows everything. And, she likes to argue just for the sake of it even if she has to make up what you say to argue with it.

            We can put Tang on the moon but there’s still no cure for Alexis.

          • William, after years of telling many other commenters that you’re smarter than they are, and you know everything, and they know nothing, you should apply your name to your comment. You are the very definition of a hypocrite.

          • MST3K

            You seem to suffer from poor reading comprehension yourself.

            I said that Alexis knows everything, not me. I didn’t say anything about smarts. You are doing exactly what Alexis did, arguing with what you made up.

            You’re just hurt because you like the pain, I guess.

    • Log Cabin Republicans unite! Call Drew Mercy for information on how to join. We are already a presence on the Blvd. And we can make things better.

      • Tom lackeys former chief of staff George Andrews is working with Drew Mercy on this group. I’m glad they are continuing a very close relationship in their support.

          • Drew Mercy is a tool of Parris and the Lancaster machine. He is running the Hofbauer campaign. This is not good for Palmdale.

    • Kinda like what trump offers……a con job while being self-serving and helping his buddies.

      trump learned from the masterr, rex parris.

  19. I was born and raised in OC, lived in Silverlake for over 20 years, I started noticing for a while, that usually the people who complain about California politics are usually republican hicks that escaped some welfare dependent red state, those same hicks are the same ones trying to turn California into the hellhole they left behind…..California is NOT a hee haw state.

    • California is a failed state propped up by hee haw big oil and the defense industry.
      2 words prove my point- homeless population.
      Everyone is just here for the money. What for Californians there are they are laughed at.

      • Dr, will you please restructure your last sentence so that it makes sense.
        To counter your two word proof… perhaps the homeless are arriving from other states, and countries coming here because California is prosperous and the citizens here are very giving, to a fault sometimes.
        As to big oil and defense propping us up. I could have sworn the Republican mantra was that all the taxes here are pushing big oil and defense out of state.

        • Haha,
          No, the homeless epidemic is homegrown. Its mostly degenerate drug addicted Californians wallowing on the streets because, mommy refi’d the home. California has to import people because 40% of all Californians are drug addicts or woefully unqualified for most professions. Even Regan knew that. That’s why he gave amnesty. There’s no workforce or labor force here. Just idiots stuck in imagination land while, the rest of us laugh all the way to the bank.

  21. I think that everywhere that Palmdale mayoral candidate Steve Hofbauer appears he should be met with a chant of

    “Hey, hey, Slimy Steve,
    Lancaster’s that way,
    Why don’t you leave?”

    • Typical lib,take away your right to democracy.
      If libs don’t like it,it shouldn’t be.
      The state of ca,with the help of a liberal judge,ruled that we can’t vote on splitting ca.

      • I notice Steve Hofbauer has 2 Lancaster Planning Commissioners [Hall and Mercy] and at least 3 maybe 4 Lancaster City Council members Parris, Christ and Mann supporting him and I can only wonder why. Im sure they have Palmdales best interest in mind.Hofbauer likes how they stroke his ego.

        • Oh Christ!..I mean Mann…No I need to go Perris..Wait Sorry that’s all I have to say.

      • “William”

        What does this bit of rambling complaint have to do with Slimy Steve Hofbauer?

    • Hofbauer is revered in his meetings with Parris, Crist, and Mercy. When he leaves they laugh at him. He is a useful idiot for them.

  22. California Constitution, Preamble: We the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure, and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution. Beautiful Preamble, and a beautiful state.

  23. Hi Everyone! Sooooooo I have been in the Antelope Valley Since 2005 and this last year I have noticed more this year then any other year that there are pan handlers all hours of the day and night almost everywhere.
    Month of June:
    – Ave J, L, M, and K super aggressive panhandlers that mad dog/mean mug you
    – Walmart entrances
    -Ave J and Valley Central Way super aggressive panhandlers
    -Ave K and Entrance to Target shopping areas
    -Almost every gas station
    -Every 20′ on the BLVD. I was enjoying a craft beer on the patio at Kinetic and within 30 min 2 separate panhandlers begged me for change.
    -I came out of the 24 hour fitness on K to get to my parked car and some younger gal gave me a sob story about needing change for gas to get home to Ventura holding an empty gas can.
    Can anything be done?
    Can the city enforce panhandling laws? ugh this is annoying.

    • Lancaster is a complete cluster F. They reappointed Marv as Vice Mayor. A horse has more sense than that fool. Then they continued their incestuous legacy by appointing Rex’s little brother Robbie to the Fair board. This after they put Marv’s kid on the planning commission, where he could sit next to the drunk and the climate change denier. Apparently it was too much for him and he bailed.

      If there are any aspiring journalists or screenwriters out there they need not look any further than Lancaster for a boat load of material.

      • The Lancaster political machine strikes again! Their latest victim is Bravery Brewing. Rex and the boys have banned them from selling beer at the fair this year. Why? Didn’t Brian Avery run for Lancaster city council this year? Boy howdy he sure did. How dare he run against the crooked Lancaster establishment. In typical Rex fashion, the retaliation is aimed at their finances, while his lackeys attempt to smear their names.

        Time to boycott any and all businesses with any ties to Rex and his gang. #BoycottRexLancaster

        • Consider it done.

          I have to go to L-town to my doctor but there’s no sales tax so that’s cool. Otherwise, I deliberately avoid spending money in that town and encourage Palmdale friends to do the same.

          As we all can see, the blvd is returning to its original state………………..desert. I think the Chernobyl site in Russia has more tourists visiting it.

          rex doesn’t boast and brag about it much any more, does he? Just like trump doesn’t mention trump ‘university’ or ‘trump steaks’ any more.

          • Transplants Brewing announced they will not be serving their beer at the AV Fair in a show of support for what has been done to Bravery. Let’s hope that Lucky Luke and Kinetic do the same. It is time to say no to the bullying of Rex, Marv and their political minions.

          • Hats off to Transplants Brewery for make a stand against the political bullies in Lancaster. They are pulling out of the AV Fair. Marvin Crist and Rob Parris voted to ban Bravery Brewing. Political bullies in Lancaster are at it again.

          • What we need is a “not at the fair” party at Bravery so people can come out and show their support. Burning Wrecks in effigy could be a highlight activity.

          • Shame on the Parris brothers for their vindictive ways, and all that follow in their ways.

          • I hear that the Confederate flag waving Rex fans over at he AV Voice are showing their true colors again by supporting Rex/Marv’s decision to blackball Bravery. When you have that group of malcontents against you, you’re doing something right. No fair for me this year. See you at Bravery.

          • What does anyone expect from these power hungry character assassins? The’ve been destroying innocent people like Jennings, Floyd, Jorge, and Ervin for years.

          • @I Support Bravery…I don’t understand what there is about AV Voice. I went to both sites that say AV Voice and I don’t see where anyone is supporting Rex/Marv’s decision to blackball Bravery. Could you please explain further.

        • I fully support the boycott of the fair, but to be quite frank, it’s pretty easy to do. It’s gone downhill fast over these last few years.

          Maybe It’s Karma time for Rex and his friends.

          • I would like to see everyone who voted yes to banning Bravery at the Fair. BTW does anybody know if there are minutes from that meeting? Its a sad state to be ruled by fear but which director would dare not support a motion my the Marvin himself while brother Rob Parris watching. Heads would role….

          • Today, we declare our independence from the tyrranical and bully rule of Rex, Marv, and the Lancaster Coalition. Boycott the Fair, the BLVD, and any and all businesses and programs associated with these thugs.

        • It’s no secret that Rexie loathes anything related to veterans so kicking Bravery to the curb is just par for the course.

          Too bad the voters of Lancaster aren’t bright enough to kick that sheister to the curb as well. I’m not saying that Lancaster voters are the dumbest, but they sure do act the part.

          • It is ok for Lancaster voters to keep voting in morons. But why is the Lancaster political machine backing candidates in Palmdale?

          • Marvin and Rex are spreading their reach beyond Lancaster with the help from Bishop,Hufbower and Carrillo. Big disappointments that are ego driven and they happen to be Palmdale councilman.

            1

            All three are very pro Lancaster

          • Rex and Marv do not have Palmdale’s best interests in mind. Neither do their three stooges.

        • Why not Get a license to sell Bravery Brewery drinks before going inside on an empty lot near the place?? Nevermind probably a horrible idea..

    • The sheriff dept is short staffed 1500 deputies county wide, there are loitering laws, but not enough deputies to inforce the minor crimes! But it Mayor Parris fault cause something dumb he said in a interview, back in 2009! But the homeless is a problem state wide, & Sacamento doesnt care

      • Okay, since “Sacramento doesn’t care,” and apparently you do, what’s your solution? Wanna imprison the homeless? Turn them into wards of the department of corrections? Or just shoot them? C’mon hotshot, since you “care” so much, surely you have at least a suggestion.

        Bottom line, the solution to the homeless ‘problem’ is approximately one million affordable housing units. Of course that creates a falling property values problem, and no doubt you would hate that even more than you hate the thought that people are “choosing” to live in tents in drainage ditches just so they can offend your delicate sensibilities.

        • Maybe that’s also why the shelters are closed…Wait they’ll be open come winter..Why not actually build some Tiny homes with Solar power that way the homes will be cheap living and have the residents work cleaning trash from the AV or even have them help in building the tiny homes that they will live in that way they can be a part of helping themselves become self sufficient…Hey the homes can be built where the vacant lots that actually wouldn’t be a problem being built on..Just a suggestion

    • Let us hope so. The GOP lapdog we’ve sent drooling and fawning over the national party, even when the national party has stated outright that “punishing California” was an objective, needs to be removed.

  25. Another day, another business closes on the BLVD. RIP Giannini’s BLVD Grill. When you lose your three marquee places, BeX, Lemon Leaf and now GBG, and dozens of other businesses, it’s obvious that the BLVD is a failure. Unless you are a panhandler or tattoo parlor.

    The BLVD. Where businesses come to die.

    • completely agree. I refuse to go to the blvd bc of all the homeless druggies hanging around.

    • You forget to mention Aven’s furniture store.

      The blvd was a poorly thought out project from the start and despite many small businesses giving it a try and then losing their businesses, it is not much better than it was before the remodel, well, except for the landscaping.

      I love recalling the bs promotion of it by rex at the start…….a whole class destination. People from all over California were going to come to see what….Bex. Well, Bex is gone. The theater changed hands after all the hoopla.

      I was there recently to a doctor’s office on Fig Street and walked a few blocks on filthy blvd sidewalks. Looks like everyone who has a soda to go poured in on the sidewalk. All it needs now is homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks unless they are already.

      Good job, rex. When are you going to take responsibility for that mess? Or, are you gonna blame it on Mayor Ledford?

  26. There are WAY too many damn churches in the area….some are fronts for grow houses, How do I know this? I know of a few sheeple who work and have worked in grow houses in the area…meanwhile, the same parasitic churches use their morons to vote against legal cannabis. religion, religion is the perfect business, the only ones who benefit from this BS is the parasites known as preachers, pastors and priests…these parasites, live off of the dumb and stupid. they make A LOT of money by selling their sheeple imaginary cures for an imaginary illness and it pays no taxes,

  28. I can’t believe what I just read. Palmdale Council Man Juan Carillo appointed a planning commissioner who hasn’t even graduated high school? Not college, high school. In this day an age, the very least you should do is get a high school diploma. You can get a GED with little effort. This guy is going to be making decisions that affect businesses, commerce, and the way we live. What a joke. Not having finished high school speaks volumes about him. Nominating him speaks volumes about Carillo. The fact that the Lancaster backed Hoffbauer and Bishop voted in favor is not surprising. Looks like Lancaster has another stooge with Carillo.

    • I have a college degree, earned while serving in the Navy…the same Navy that I got into by taking a GED. If you want to stroke your ego about having wasted your time hanging around high school, go ahead, but you’re getting laughed at for it here.

      • Thank you for your service to our country Tim Scott. You appear to be motivated to at least have gotten your GED, and then some. It is disturbing to have someone who cannot find the wherewithal to at least get a GED be on a planning commission making decisions that have huge impacts.

        Very disappointed in Carillo. That sort of this is expected with the other two. Carillo is proving to be a disappointment.

        • Thirty years ago dropping out of school and getting a job wasn’t looked at the same way it is today. I’d say 28 years of union labor experience weighs more than a GED, but that’s just my opinion.

          One thing that would be interesting to know is how many people applied for that position, and what qualifications they had. Letting the city get all up in your financial business so you can spend your time for free making decisions that will usually make approximately half of your neighbors angry isn’t all that attractive. Carrillo might have appointed the only person who was willing.

          • In a society that is more complex and technological now that it was than 30 years ago, a basic education is even more important. The fact that he didn’t even pursue a GED is troubling. Kudos to Bettancourt for thinking of the whole city. 28 years of being a union rep? Not once getting a GED? To replace someone who has a high school education and a business?

            Wow. Chalk up another one for the Lancaster cartel of Carillo, Hoffbauer, and Bishop.

          • You are right Tim Scott. That is why they do not do that. They teach basic math, algebra, geometry, algebra II, calculus, trigonometry, and physics.

            Most people do not need all that. They should still finish high school or get a GED.

            Palmdale lost a good planning commissioner an is saddled with an inferior one. Just like 60% of its council.

            Rex and the boys are smiling.

          • @Stay in School….Wow, what an irresponsible comment! Now you say, “chalk up another one for the Lancaster cartel.” All I have read about Angel Olvera is positive and like I said in another comment about the power plant, he was with Mayor Ledford, and completely against Parris and Crist. I will consider first the articles I read (quite a few), before I consider your comments without corroboration, (gossip). I might also add that there are many educated people that are corrupt to the core.

          • Stay in School…Mathematics is best taught early, when the brain is still forming synaptic connections at its highest rate. That’s why the great mathematicians of the classical era had all their greatest breakthroughs when they were in their teens and twenties. I taught my kids algebra alongside basic arithmetic early in grade school and calculus by junior high. All I ever counted on the schools to do was keep them safe and busy during the day while I was at work, and they did a piss poor job of that.

          • I do agree with you, Tim Scott, that mathematics can and should be taught early. However, there are many of us who took high level mathematics at university, with much success and development.

            But I digress. The point is, Palmdale has a planning commissioner who never graduated high school and never got his GED. It is too important a position to have someone without a basic education and obvious lack of motivation.

            Shame on Carillo, Hoffbauer, and Bishop. They did their Lancaster master’s work certainly. It is having negative impacts in Palmdale.

          • What negative impacts are you referring to? To the best of my knowledge the recently appointed planning commission hasn’t even had their first meeting yet, so it seems to me you are howling before you are hurting.

            I’m sort of suspicious about you, actually.

            I haven’t seen any solid indications that the Wrecks crew controls a majority on the city council. With the actual known Wrecks tools; Bishop and Hofbauer, not up for reelection we are definitely stuck with them, and no doubt the lot of them are scheming about how to get a majority…with attacking Carrillo any way possible as an obvious option for them.

            And then you come along. You seem really adamant about lumping Carrillo, who is up for reelection, in with Bishop and Hofbauer. Hofbauer knows that this site is a hotbed of anti-Wrecks-and-his minions postings. Turning that to advantage to get their next minion past Carrillo would be sound strategy.

            So tell me, since you are obviously against Carrillo, who are you backing in district four?

          • Or the a person in the family or a person he felt needed a leg up..Hey I know someone who went to college and his major Was Business Can He get the JOB!?!?

          • Thank you, Tim. He’s a union organizer, and he appears to be all in for Palmdale. Isn’t that a good thing?

          • Yeah, I think it is. I’ve never been real big on “the education makes the man” though, and I know there are people who give such things a lot more weight.

          • @Stay in School…Back in 2013, Angel Olvera backed Mayor James Ledford in an acrimonious meeting with Rex Parris and Marv Crist about the power plant. Parris and Crist were against it, coming up with bazaar reasons that were blown way out of proportion. He stood with Mayor Ledford, and that’s good enough for me. I know this much, that Mayor Ledford has done wonderful things for Palmdale, and every time I have attended Veterans services in Palmdale, He is there. Never have I seen Parris at the Lancaster events, and he plays dirty (too much mud slinging.)

          • Alexis, 2013 was before Rex launched his attack on Palmdale and Ledford. It is a different world now. Rex can taste victory in his psychotic desire to destroy Ledford and drain Palmdale of its funds.

            You do know that Lancaster is in massive debt, don’t you?

            Either way, Angel Olvera does not have a high school diploma and Bettancourt was right to oppose him. Too bad the Lancaster wing of the council did not agree with her.

          • @Stay in School…2013 was not before Rex launched his attack on Palmdale and Ledford! Where have you been? I’m done with you, because now I know you don’t know what you’re talking about. Trying to stir the pot with unfounded nonsense.

          • 2013? The Lancaster cabal was trying to get control of Palmdale even before they ran out of puppets and had to put one of their own, Wrecks, in actual office.

            The revision of the state constitution to allow city councils to enter into revenue sharing agreements without voter approval was jammed through in 1998 by the cabal’s Sacramento operative, George Runner. They have been setting up for this for twenty years, and counting.

          • Alexis, being naïve must be blissful. Rex has been involved in Lancaster politics for decades and has been anti Palmdale the entire time. I confused the gentleness of your soul for ignorance of reality.

            For the record, there is a long list of unscrupulous union leaders. Most union people are hard working, honest, and forthright citizens. Their leadership has more than a few bad apples.

            Have a good life.

          • @Stay in School…I apologize to you for saying your comments are nonsense. I probably am very naïve when it comes to politics. I should never wade into those waters. I detest politics, and I try to stay on a path of peace, which is extremely difficult at times. Please forgive me for being so contentious with you. I am learning that staying away from Palmdale, Lancaster politics is best for me because I have no control over anything, and don’t want to.

          • Stay in School…Please forgive me for my contentious comments toward you. I detest politics.

          • Do we have two posters using “Stay in School”?

            One says “2013 was before Rex launched his attack on Palmdale and Ledford.”

            Another says “Rex has been involved in Lancaster politics for decades and has been anti Palmdale the entire time.”

            Will the real Stay in School please stand up?

          • Alexis, I forgive you and I hope you forgive me. I have nothing against you. It appears that you care about the community. My concern is what is happening to my hometown from Lancaster’s outside influence and our own leaders who should be working in our best interests. Hoffbauer, Carillo, and Bishop are in bed with Rex and the machine to serve his and their interests. I had high hopes for Carillo but he did run with Hoffbauer and Bishop so this is a logical union. I will do whatever I can to unseat the three of them and get people who put us ahead of Rex, his interests, and their interests.

          • @Stay in School…You are right, I am very naïve when it comes to politics, and I hope someone like you that knows much more than I, will be able to make a difference so there will be more peace, for you and all concerned. Thank you.

          • @Stay in School…Thank you, and I hope it works out for you, and peace will be restored.

      • The guy didn’t even fill out the application. Just another union thug here to pay to play. Carrillo is most definitly a Bishop and Hofbauer supporter. I see it every time a controversial issue is brought to Palmdale he takes their position. Many people see the same thing going on, he is a out of town disappointment to our East side.

        • Hey I wonder who takes over when Rex And Perris and all the musketeers are no longer running things..A Misfit will come along and fix everything…Naaa

    • Carrillo has been the third vote to Bishop and Hufbourer for a long time. This is just another in a series of pro Lancaster anti Palmdale moves by this boneheaded majority.

      • I hope it works out for all of you that are so unhappy with the dysfunctional direction of Palmdale.

      • So now you have a Democrat, and two Republicans from Palmdale, being manipulated by Lancaster. This is why I detest politics. Nothing is what it seems to be. What is the solution to all this chaos that has been going on for so long in the Antelope Valley?

        • Money and power. Rex has the money and wants more power. Hofbauer is being played like a fiddle thinking he will become mayor. Bishop has been promised the mayor’s seat, too. Carillo was promised support for a future Assembly run. They are 3 tools being used by Rex and the Lancaster Political Machine. I hope people wake up.

    • I didn’t believe this at first but I checked it out. Council Man Carrillo really did appoint someone who doesn’t even have a high school diploma to the Palmdale planning commission.

      That’s not a good thing. What is going on in Palmdale?

  29. I really do not understand what justification there is for removing automobile lanes on such busy streets to put bike lanes in place. Each time they tear up a different road, the construction seems to take an unreasonable amount of time, only to result in persistent congestion. If they want to slow traffic down through certain areas, maybe speed humps would be more appropriate than bottlenecking traffic into fewer lanes.

    • What do you expect when you have a mayor that thinks bird sounds will lower crime, black paint will fix roads, and spending $10 million dollars on a cesna with a camera will make us safer?

      I can’t wait to see what whacked out idea he throws upon us next.

      • Don’t question the rationalization of this stupidity, your Lancaster elected officials know better than you do on what is best for our City. That is why we elect them so they have free reign to do what they please.

        • When is rex gonna start wearing those 5 foot neckties like trump?

          He’s got his brand name plastered everywhere like trump.

          He’s got an ego as big as trump’s.

          He’s just at ridiculous as trump.

          He’s just as funny looking as trump.

          He’s runs the city/government like trump for his and his buddies’ benefit.

          His voter base is made of up fools like trump’s

          He’s mini-trump. as in the Austin Powers movies.

      • It didn’t take long for Rex to outdo himself. He takes stupid to new levels almost daily.

    • Ever see anyone using the bike lanes? 23 years in the AV, I’ve seen TWO cyclists using them in all that time.. & one of those was in Palmdale.

        • In protest, why don’t ALL of us who drive cars, drive in the bike lanes as if they don’t exist? Are they going to write tickets to everyone? I never see anyone riding a bike in the bike lanes. We live on the desert, for Heaven’s sake, where it is cold and windy or hot and windy–not conducive to a pleasurable bike-riding experience. If this was a beach area, it would be a little easier to understand; however, even then, people who are contributing to society need to be able to get to work, take children to school, etc., by car. Making it more difficult to get to these places by taking away car lanes to put in bike lanes makes absolutely no sense. Also, why aren’t bikes subject to registration fees (for a license plate to be placed on them)? Expensive bike lanes are put in; yet, the roads are still full of pot holes (causing a lot of damage to cars). Completely ridiculous!!

  30. So let’s see if I have this right. Rex and Marv led the charge to remove Randy Floyd as CEO of AVTA. Rex and Marv then tried to put Norm Hickling in but got caught since Norm was a director himself. Then Rex gets Marv to chair the board and they recruit Rex stooges Hofbauer and Bishop. Rex got a $10 grand campaign contribution from Stella Li of BYD. AVTA’s new board decides to go all electric. They put out to bid a contract for all electric busses and only BYD can build them. Then AVTA hires a new CEO who was a BYD CEO. Sometime during all this, a former Rex employee is hired for an unannounced and unrecruited position as Innovation Coordinator. That person was let go. The former AVTA CEO is leaving to head up some mysterious agency.

    Nothing to see here people. Move along.

    • And the people in Lancaster have, all along, had the power to change what is corrupt, but choose to leave things as they are. 11.2% went to the polls. Rex Parris has never changed, so the people are to blame for allowing this to happen for four terms. Lancaster gets the politicians they deserve. People complain day after day, month after month, year after year, sitting back and letting it happen. I feel badly for the people that go to the polls to vote for better politicians, only to see the extremely low voter turnout every time.

      • Apparently the people in Lancaster are happy with corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and the good old boy network. Now the Lancaster political machine is trying to bring that model to Palmdale through their three representatives on the counsul. They have been very successful. You have to tip your glass to DUI Drew, Rex, Marvin, Frank, and the boys for what they have accomplished.

    • Where did you get your information that Hofbauer and Bishop are Rex’s stooges? Please corroborate without just hearsay. Please direct me to an article or articles that I can see for myself. Why do the people keep voting for corrupt politicians in Palmdale and Lancaster?

      • Ask them. They are public officials answerable to the public. They make appearances. My city councilman, and the mayor, both agreed to meet me privately, as a constituent. Either at one of their ‘shake hands with the public’ opportunities, or a photo op, or by requesting a meeting, you can talk to them.

        Ask them about protecting Palmdale from Lancaster’s intended revenue sharing agreement. Hofbauer will leap to “I voted against that” and will not accept any continuation of the conversation. No promise that he wouldn’t vote for it if he thought he could get the two thirds vote it would require. No answer to whether he has ever discussed the matter individually with representatives of Lancaster. Definitely no support for removing that authority from the city council just in case a future council might be more under Lancaster’s influence.

        Ask them about comments they have made showing their appreciation for “how things are done” in Lancaster. I promise you, if you can get across that you need to know that you as a Palmdale resident and voter are more important to them than their good standing with Wrecks Parris then Hofbauer will smarmily lie to your face, and he is not a good liar. You will have no doubt whatever as to where Palmdale residents stand with him as compared to Wrecks.

        Then ask him how much of his “consulting” business income comes from Lancaster’s power brokers. Watch his spluttering indignant response and decide for yourself if it is the response of an innocent man wrongly accused. As I said, for a politician he is a surprisingly poor liar. He’s good when he delivers his polished and practiced BS, but when questioned he turns into a blustering blowhard with an obvious disregard for reality.

        Sorry I couldn’t give you “an article,” but you have said you don’t trust news sources anyway. Neither do I. That’s why I go find stuff out for myself. I think everyone should.

        • As I have said many times before, it’s the fault of the people for keeping these corrupt politicians in office. Come on now; Hofbauer is in his fourth term. Parris and his crew, fourth term. If the people don’t like what’s going on in Palmdale and Lancaster with the politicians then vote them out. Why is that so hard to comprehend? It’s up to the people that live in District 2 to decide whether they want to keep Hofbauer or vote him out. The same with Bishop. I have been reading comments for years that Hofbauer is corrupt, but the people keep voting for him. If people vote for corrupt politicians, then that’s what they’re going to get.

          • People tend to not account for their councilman being on a council. Let’s assume, just for a minute, that I and many others who have met them are right, and Bishop and Hofbauer are deep in the pocket of Wrecks and his cronies. What actions could they take? They are two fifths of the council, so the answer is nothing. That has been true of Bishop for a year, and true of Hofbauer for over a decade. But their presence constitutes a risk.

            What happens if we get one more Wrecks pocket toy on the council, and they have a majority? How much damage can they do in two years, and how hard would it be to undo?

            Or worse, it takes a two thirds majority of the council to make the revenue sharing deal that Wrecks desperately wants. If they get their three vote majority and can get one of those opposed removed from their seat they can make a deal handing Palmdale’s economic future to Wrecks…and only a two thirds majority the other way can take it back.

            I get the “well, I don’t see that Hofbauer has done any harm” argument…but that doesn’t mean that it is safe to keep him around. It just makes it harder to get people’s attention focused on the risk that he represents.

          • The problem is that Hofbauer and Bishop have the full support and work with Carillo. Meetings at Bex, Lancaster Sheriff’s Boosters fundraiser, and elsewhere with Rex, Marv, Drew, and the boys make for a bad mix.

          • It’s official. After reading all your comments, Palmdale is as corrupt as Lancaster. Hofbauer, Bishop, now Carrillo, and let’s not forget Ledford who has been indicted on corruption charges. Woe, are the people of Palmdale. Life sucks for all the complainers.

          • Ledford is the latest in a long line of character smears headed up by Rex. Remember Raymond Lee Jennings, the guy Rex was convinced was a murderer? It was Rex who led the way to his being sent to prison for 10 long years only to have the DA release him for not being the murderer.

            Then there was Randy Floyd and Esmeralda Jorge who Rex had run out of the AVTA on trumped up charges that never stuck.

            Who can forget the racist hit mailers Rex put out calling Johnathan Ervin, an African American veteran, a ‘Gang Candidate?

            Ledford is next in his list. Anyone care to wager that he is not charged and goes free like all the others?

            This may finally be the end of the Rex Character Assasination Machine. Good riddance, scumbag.

          • Your comment is extremely arrogant, Scott. The voters in every district will vote for whom they want, just as you are able to cast your vote in the district you live in. The people will decide if Bishop, Carrillo, or Hofbauer should serve another term. Not by your mean words, but by what each voter will decide when it is time to vote. Making informed decisions about each politician should never be based on what you or anyone else says in a comments section. Hopefully people won’t take your words as gospel, or anyone else here that mimics what you say.

          • Oooooooo. Looks like “informed decisions” got really upset about the idea that voters should go out and actually meet the person they are voting for and see for themselves what they are about. Let me guess, you are one of the on-line hacks that Slimy Steve employs to tamp down anyone who doesn’t present the image of him that he wants presented.

            I’d like to know why you lump Carrillo in with the dirty duo in Wrecks’ pocket though.

            I personally think that Wrecks and Co are targeting Carrillo in this election. If they can replace him with another pocket toy then their investment in Hofbauer and Bishop can be brought to fruition with a council majority, and if they then can fulfill their dream of removing Ledford they can use their three votes on a council of four to approve Wrecks’ revenue sharing proposal to bleed Palmdale as dry as Lancaster.

            Is that why you dragged Carrillo’s name into the Hofbauer and Bishop mud?

        • Article dated July 21, 1997-Stop the Warfare and Share the Wealth. Revenue sharing between two cities. What a mature concept.

          • It is a mature concept. For example, rather than bending over and showing their butts to get Costco to build in Lancaster rather than Palmdale the two cities could have entered a “revenue from Costco shall be shared between the two cities” agreement and made a deal with Costco that would have been something other than the screw job Lancaster got.

            However that isn’t what Wrecks and his crew want. What they want is a “general revenue share” where all revenue is pooled and then Lancaster gets a bigger cut based on current revenue generation. So if Palmdale continues to grow and prosper under our leadership, and Lancaster continues to decay under his leadership, his cash cow will be protected.

            That isn’t maturity, it’s corruption.

          • Article: 12 Dumbest Parts of the Lancaster/Palmdale Cactus Curtain Feud. You’re all like a bunch of feuding siblings.

          • Alexis, do you know of any city that shares its sales tax with another city? Ever wonder why cities don’t share sales tax?

            It’s kind of like neighbors. They live next to each other and have have common borders, but they don’t share paychecks or stick their noses in each other’s business.

            Ever wonder why only Lancaster and the members of the Lancaster Political Machine are the only ones interested in sales tax sharing?

            Think, Alexis. Think.

          • Actually, revenue sharing agreements aren’t uncommon, they just aren’t ever done in the hare brained way that Wrecks has proposed. For example, when the mall was being built it would have made sense to make a revenue sharing deal for revenues from the mall, rather than let the developer play the bids against each other. Same when the car dealers were playing games with the competing auto malls and both cities were getting raped, for revenues from an auto mall.

            But Wrecks and his crew aren’t making any proposals like that for upcoming development. They want a “general” agreement where all the revenue goes in a common pot and then Lancaster gets the bigger cut, because as of right now they have the bigger population. It would be like an up and coming twenty-five year old making a paycheck sharing plan with his father who is five years from retirement…the deal means basically nothing now, but when the old man retires and he is still getting the bigger cut of their pooled income the kid is gonna be getting screwed.

          • The drama and feuding is hurting both cities. Business leaders and others realize this, but it will continue because both sides have kept this petty feud going for many years and it’s costing millions. Corruption in both cities will wear on those that live in both cities. Continue with your comments that never change. the same divided discourse that was here in 2011 when this online paper began. And round and round you go with the futility.

          • The ‘drama’ is all political and coming from Rex. No one in Palmdale cares what he or the Lancaster Political Machine thinks. Neither do businesses apparently. They keep opening left and right in Palmdale.

            Maybe there is a Lancaster Commission position open for you. You seem to think like they do.

          • @Palmdalian…I didn’t vote for Rex Parris, so what you think is wrong. Here’s where you’re wrong; The commenters on here do care about what the Lancaster political machine thinks. Why? Because the commenters believe some of the politicians in Palmdale are working with Rex and his crew to overthrow Palmdale, yes overthrow. Sounds like we’re living in another country, right? So you can toss insults my way, Palmdalian. It’s not Rex Parris, it’s the people that don’t care enough to change the status quo. You would think after the hit mailer, that would be more motivation to get him out, but no. Now the commenters believe there is a velvet revolution happening in Palmdale, because of Rex Parris. Vote the corrupt politicians out, people. Your comments, complaining on a daily basis don’t solve anything. Stop with the self-pity and do something!

          • Alexis…we only get to vote one day out of 730. What do you suggest we do on the other 729? Sit quietly and watch the Wrecks machine maneuver to destroy Palmdale and just HOPE other voters will finally notice what is going on? Or should we “complain on a daily basis” and try to GET other voters to finally notice?

          • Tim, the complaining on a daily basis for 729 isn’t working, is it? So continue complaining, and that is your choice, and all the other commenters complaints that are lobbed on a daily basis. The people aren’t listening because they continue to vote for the same politicians. Like Obama said “you get the politicians you deserve.”

          • Dunno. Haven’t actually been doing it for 729 days…or even close. I was pretty complacent that Palmdale was safe until Bishop got on the council. Hofbauer was bad news, but Ledford always kept him in check.

            I never complained about Wrecks and his crew when I lived in Lancaster. It was so far gone that I just left as soon as I could. If they get their hooks into Palmdale I can leave here too, but until the battle is lost I’ll keep fighting every way that I can…including making comments.

          • Alexis, I and others will never stop exposing the corruption of the Lancaster Political Machine and how it is infiltrating Palmdale no matter how many or how few people vote. Voter apathy is not solely an Antelope Valley problem. It is a national problem.

            There are many people working hard, talking to people, donating money, and doing what they can to keep Rex and his corrupt minions from doing to Palmdale what he has done to Lancaster. No, they do not have the deep pockets or control that Rex has. But they will not stop. They will not be silenced.

          • I’m confused about all this corruption charges against lancaster.which mayor was indicted on corruption charges?I remember now,palmdale.

          • Palmdalian, I hope the best for those that are gathering evidence to expose corruption, because uncorroborated daily comments are only opinions and should never be used in exposing. It is called hearsay, and in this judicial system, if you want to expose political or any other corruption you need enough evidence. God forbid we should condemn anyone on just hearsay. If I know there is corruption going on, then I better back up what I know with evidence and plenty of it. You can comment all you want, along with the others and all you are doing is only complaining, which you have the right to do. The people are to blame for allowing corruption. If your not happy with your politicians vote them out. I am done with this issue because it is negative and futile to argue with commenters that have their hands to their ears.

          • Alexis, I am sure you are a very nice person, but your judgement is questionable. Have a nice day.

    • The wheels on the BYD busses continue to fall off. Fresh off the LA Times expose on the poor performance of BYD busses, it seems that the city of Albuquerque is considering a new, quality electric bus manufacturer.

      Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller: “ABQRide has 15 buses onsite with varying levels of operability, and the company that was originally contracted by the City, Build Your Dreams (BYD), continues to address concerns raised previously about the quality of the buses. The buses still do not hold the charge that they were contracted to hold and that the system was designed for.”

      Link to the story and videos: https://insideevs.com/it-seems-some-byd-buses-have-quality-issues-cant-recharge/

      Meanwhile, Marv, Hofbauer, Bishop have put all the AV’s transportation eggs in the BYD basket. This could spell disaster and cost the taxpayer millions of dollars.

      Keep moving along, people. Nothing to see here.

  31. I am a relatively new resident to the Antelope Valley region. When I moved to the area, car insurance rates immediately increased for my spouse and myself. Recently my spouse was told by a doctor not to drive until some tests can be completed so I began taking him to the Park N Ride. You wouldn’t think that at 4-5 a.m. there are aggressive tailgaters on the road but, yes, in fact there are. Palmdale police says it’s a CHP issue (Lake Elizabeth Rd. between Green Valley and Ranch Center Drive).

    As a new subscriber to the AVP, it’s not clear how much the Leona Valley, Green Valley and Lake Hughes are covered with regard to general news, let alone traffic issues. However, it doesn’t take a long residency history here to observe that the roadsides are peppered with memorials to drivers who died in accidents.

    I had an epiphany after being tailgated in my small car early this morning — not once but twice by drivers in large pickup trucks who blinded me by following so close behind despite the fact that I myself was driving 20-30mph above the posted limit! — that some of the single-car traffic fatalities along San Francisquito Canyon Road, Bouquet Canyon, Johnston and Lake Elizabeth Rds may very well result not from someone who was themselves driving recklessly and lost control but, instead, from essentially being forced off the road by someone who was unwilling to let them slow down (or pass rather than tailgate).

    After having not one but two extreme tailgate incidents in a single hour’s drive to and from the Park N Ride on Ave.S, the common denominator in both instances was being followed so closely that slowing to pull over would have caused an accident. (In other words, the real intent was to harass not to pass — in which case pulling aside even if I was “allowed” to slow down enough to do so could have meant being confronted in an area with very spotty cell phone coverage.)

    What’s ironic about the tailgating problem that characterizes these roads at all hours of the day is this: Spend any serious amount of time living elsewhere in SoCal and you will come to appreciate that it’s not uncommon for drives of less than 30 miles by freeway to take in excess of an hour and for commutes just 10 miles over surface streets to take 40+ minutes.

    When I relocated to this area, I was so relieved not to have to fight in traffic the way I did for over 25 years elsewhere in SoCal. But that relief was soon decimated by the reality that I will probably die at the hands of a “country driver” who has no patience for sub 70MPH driving despite 1/5th of the traffic most other SoCal drivers contend with on a daily basis (communities where one is lucky to reach posted limits, let alone exceed them by ~25MPH).

    While I am the first person to admit that I tend to run late wherever I am going, running late — whatever the reason may be short of an emergency! — isn’t a good reason to drive like it’s the Zombie Apocalypse. For those who live in the outskirts of Palmdale, Lancaster and the Leona Valley, Green Valley, Lake Hughes, specifically, these communities are also incredibly small compared to elsewhere in LA County. All of which means that chances are very, very good that drivers who tailgate aggressively are literally charging down their neighbors and their kids’ friends’ parents. (Put another way, how many people in this area might know someone who has been seriously injured or killed on these “country” roads?)

    It’s not enough to call CHP. I tried and could get no answer or callback as to how often they patrol this area (and in almost a year’s time in this area I have yet to come across a single traffic enforcement officer on duty, let alone anything resembling a “speed trap”). And so, since it would appear CHP is not engaged with this part of the Antelope Valley, I have another suggest — a suggestion that relates directly to this publication. It’s time the Antelope Valley Press to begin compiling traffic fatality statistics as part of the Crime Blotter. Residents in the Antelope Valley may be accustomed to speeding 20-30MPH above the limit in unincorporated Northwest Los Angeles County but it’s the hiding of the consequences that keeps drivers in denial about the real costs of reckless driving. It’s time the AVP to publish a Traffic Accident Blotter much the same as they currently publish a Crime Blotter. Once the facts and figures about serious injuries and traffic fatalities come to light. we just might be able to convince the CHP to provide a visible patrol presence in this part of the AV.

    • LYNND –
      the driver of the jumbo size personal truck trying to push you off the road probably works at the CHP or the L.A. County Sheriff or similiar govt. agency.

      their driving tactics, which can be described as vehicular assault, should not necessarily be attributed to running behind schedule.

      the root cause of their sociopathic driver style is often related to “small p*n*s syndrome” and “short dude complex”.

      Your well-founded concern about the personal and social costs of this roadway behavior will probably have no positive effect unless you can shift up to the level of committed activism.

      You can start with a visit to your CHP Area Office at 2041 West Avenue I to register a traffic complaint with the watch officer each time you experience another vehicle trying to run you off the road.

      Invest in equipping your vehicle with cameras to record the offending vehicle at your rear including a view of the driver and the license plate. You want to record as much data as possible in order to identify and document the time, location and circumstances of each incident.

      Each additional person who can join your effort and actively contribute helps to get the ball rolling.

      Seek the involvement of any organization whose mission and resources might align with your objectives, for example – the automobile club of southern california.

      Your suggestion to AVT to publish a highway accident blotter is a good start point.

      Imagine gaining access to records of chp accident reports and/or other sources of information related to all accidents from the past 10 years on these specific roads.

      Then conducting a professional analysis of the data to find if there is evidence to support your theory – that the type of situation you experienced while driving yesterday has most likely contributed to some fatal accidents.

      One tool which may prove essential in your efforts is filing requests under the California Public Records Act.

      In the beginning, I suggested you discuss your complaint in person with a watch commander at the CHP Area Office. Its possible they are in the habit of just sitting on these complaints.
      Can we view the file of past complaints to the watch commander? Do they at least have summary tabulations available?

      Just go ahead and file a CPRA request for any and all documents related to these local highway tailgater terrorists. When you have proof the problem is bigger than anyone knew, then it can be presented to elected govt. representatives.
      They can apply the pressure needed to push the CHP bureaucracy into taking real action.

      I have friends in Lake Los Angeles. I won’t drive out to see them or return from there after dark.
      The effort of concentration needed to navigate the road after dark is intense, when the visual information is limited to a brief section of headlight illuminated highway lane lines.
      I don’t need the extra anxiety caused when a local area speeder rides up under my tail pushing me to accelerate beyond my confidence zone – it can be terrifying.

      We need help to identify the specific crime of vehicular assault which has been committed.
      And we need to find the specific office and specific person working at L.A. County District Attorney who is assigned to filing charges involving this type of violation.

      If the CHP has been given an affidavit of complaint from the victim and provided videotape of the offense which shows the vehicle, driver, license plate, etc., then we expect to see an investigation, an arrest and charges filed.
      If not, they must tell us what more is needed.

      • Speaking of a small pen** syndrome Dave.

        “the root cause of their sociopathic driver style is often related to “small p*n*s syndrome” and “short dude complex”.

        To think that all (or even most) of these drivers all work LASD, CHP or some other similar governmental agency is just more of the same old conspiracy work you here at the forum try to spread.

        Go get fitted for a new tin foil hat and continue to hide under your bed when the sun goes down. I would not want your precious mis-informed individualistic persona to get damaged by the guys with the small pen**

  32. Comment from Congressman Steve Knight’s Facebook Page:

    So when you get curb stomped in November do you plan to come back to California, or will you be moving to wherever the people you actually represented are?

    I think this is hilarious, though tragically apt.

    • Knight will scrounge around till he finds another government paycheck to keep him in high cotton blend. A real “Profile in Poltroonery” he is.

      He joins the ranks of all the other gop chickens**** in Congress who close their eyes and kiss trump’s backside that likely matches his face like those primates with the colorful faces and matching butts.

      • You give Knight too much credit. He’s never gonna get close enough to kiss Trump’s rump. He’s just one of those faceless automotons that Paul Ryan is referring to when he says “no need to worry about them Mr President, they vote however the party tells them.”

  33. Outstanding letter today. Outstanding. Where is the local investigation?
    BYD batteries should be openly discussed

    I was more than a little surprised in reading the lengthy, three-page article in the May 20 Los Angeles Times regarding the many varied reliability issues BYD is having with their electric buses. One of the biggest issues named was with their batteries performance which seems to fall short on many different levels and quite different from that which BYD claimed they could perform.

    In hindsight perhaps this should not have been a surprise as most of us have experienced repeated issues with most battery powered products that don’t seem to ever live up to the manufacturers claims.

    Until this newspaper article appeared, I heard only glowing reports locally from BYD, our elected representatives, and the Antelope Valley Press. Since this is a large and important company in Lancaster, perhaps something other than silence should be offered locally.

    • The relationship between BYD and the AVTA board is scandalous. Campaign contributions, business deals, and fixed bid requirements are just the to of the iceberg. How can an AVTA board director be allowed to do work for AVTA and BYD busses? This is the Lancaster model that the two Lancaster owned board member from Palmdale now embrace.

  34. I marched with the students and others Saturday morning from the Antelope Valley Mall to Highland High School to support their intenton to stop gun violence especially at schools.

    Although they didn’t say much about Rep. Steve Knight, if he is replaced in November it will have been aided by those and other students throughout the district. They’re doing a great job in such a short time despite the ugly rants and lies thrown at them by some. They are a force to be reckoned with.

    It’s been said by them many times that “The gun debate is over.” The most important thing to be done now is removing each and every elected official owned by the gun lobby……………….such as Knight himself. Then, comprehensive and effective legislation can be enacted even if it takes a few years minus the dictates of the NRA.

    • The NRA represents about 5% of gun owners, the other 95% couldn’t care less about them.

  35. While Rex tries to portray himself as a concerned environmentalist by pushing solar farms down our throats and destroying our beautiful desert, there is growing concern about the future environmental impacts of solar panels, in addition to the problems they already are causing with Valley Fever, harm to habitat, dust pollution, etc.

    Do yourself a favor and read this thoughtful article on the impending toxic problems we will be left with in the future by Rex’s solar farms. It is not a pretty picture.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/23/if-solar-panels-are-so-clean-why-do-they-produce-so-much-toxic-waste/#489fc707121c

      • I would like my electricity delivered through a combination of hydro, natural gas, rooftop solar, nuclear, wind, clean coal with carbon capture AND equally as important, a strong and consistent effort to improve energy efficiency. The footprint left by these solar farms and the problem of disposal outweighs their benefits. Unless you are a nut job like Mayor Rex who believes Bangladesh will be destroyed by a cyclone in his lifetime. And bird sounds on the BLVD lower crime. And she had no idea the gun was in her purse when she tried to get on that plane. And a black coating will somehow fix roads. And that spending $10 Million Dollars on a spy plan will make us safer. I can do this all day.

        • Hi Willy…Apparently most of the citizens are O.K. with all that is going on in Lancaster because only 11.2% went to the polls to vote for change.

    • There is a form of clean solar, centralized steam production. Small units like the one off of Ave H can out produce the solar panel fields easily. Takes up less room, and very low on the toxic by products. Also cheaper to maintain.

      • Is the plant on Ave H still working? Some of the mirrors now aim sunlight at the 14 freeway.

    • This is sort of a scaremongering. The article you link isn’t anywhere near as dire as you make it seem. Yes, there are going to be tons of solar panels to recycle, and yes, as the article states “recycling is hard.” It’s also CURRENTLY not profitable, since the life span of solar panels is long enough that the only panels currently needing disposal are from the early days when there just weren’t very many. But there isn’t really any mystery to the recycling process. When enough time has passed that the big waves of solar installations are reaching end of life there will be more than enough material to make recycling profitable, and they will get recycled.

      I don’t understand why people can’t just stay on point. WRECKS IS CORRUPT AND RUINS EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES. Slinging sideways into attacks on solar power, electric buses, and whatever else, just because Wrecks gets involved in it doesn’t really help.

    • Proterra Catalyst, leading North American provider of zero-emission battery electric buses. Costs less, better quality, holds a charge longer.

      • Has a production capacity of approximately a hundred buses per year, and as of last summer had over four years of production backlogged. They make fine buses, but they currently can’t deliver in a timely manner.

        • If Proterra could find an agency with a board as Corrupt as AVTA’s they could expand like BYD has done. It is amazing to see the Great Tim give a free pass to Rex, Marv, Steve, and Austin. I have lost a little respect of your judgement, Tim. Not a lot. A little. Everyone has a bad day. I know you’ll be back to your old form.

          • I’m not giving them a pass, just got tired of the Proterra argument. The complaint should be that they made a premature decision to go all electric. Most transit operators recognized that NG was a stopgap between diesel (that had to go) and electric (that at the time needed a couple more years of development).

            Constantly throwing Proterra into the mix makes the argument ineffective, since at the time Proterra was fantasy buses, not actual buses. As Alexis points out, their production capacity is up to 500 a year NOW, and they are one of the hottest suppliers in the market so they still are backlogged for years. If AVTA had gone with Proterra we’d still be waiting and we’d still have those buses that were poisoning the drivers running.

        • Flash forward to 2017, and sold a total of 400 buses. Proterra now has the capacity to build 500 buses a year between its two facilities. They are contracted by Chicago, San Francisco, Washington State, plus more, because they recognize a superior company that is expanding. Antelope Valley Transit Authority is a mess.

          • No one can compete with the volume of buses that BYD manufactures, (thousands), and they also have a sizable backlog. There are also many negative issues with their buses. Some realize it’s best to go with quality.

  37. How many more times are we going to waste taxpayer dollars on garbage products from China when we have American companies that are building QUALITY electric busses right now? Proterra, anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

    It is amazing how contributions from BYD can turn so-called conservative Republicans into tax wasters.

    Stalls, stops and breakdowns: Problems plague push for electric buses

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-electric-buses-20180520-story.html

    • republicans/tea partiers/conservatives give HYPOCRISY a very bad name.

    • There’s actually a little bit more to contracting for a product than looking at quality of product or price. You have to look at whether the supplier actually has the capacity to deliver. Like when the Air Force goes looking for a heavy bomber they are going to consider bids from Northrop and Boeing and Lockheed, but if they get a bid from Joe the Mechanic who says he is gonna build them in his garage Joe’s price isn’t really going to matter.

      Proterra is making quality electric buses right now. As of the middle of last year they had been in production for about a year and were excited about delivering their 100th bus. At that time their banked orders amounted to about five years worth of their production capacity. I like the company, and they are building a good product. Eventually they will probably have the facilities and equipment to be very competitive. But right now they are a startup.

      • So you will accept under performing and over priced busses by BYD? Are you on their donation list, too, like Rex, Marv, Hoffbauer, and Bishop? Local jobs are great, but unlike Marv, tax payers care how much they cost. Is paying too much for underperforming product really bettering the community? I think not. We deserve better.

        The Los Angeles Times did everyone a favor by exposing this scam.

        It gets shadier by the minute. Today’s AV Press reports that AVTA hired a former BYD exec to run the show. What will turn up next?

        • Accept? As opposed to no buses at all?

          How about dealing with REALITY? The reality is that for all your tub thumping about Proterra “building quality buses right now” their current backlog means that we could buy those buses with a delivery date five years from now, maybe.

          You can ramble all you want about how we “deserve better,” and I won’t even argue the point. I also “deserve” nutritious potato chips for a nickle a bag…but they just aren’t available.

          • There are excellent hybrid or natural gas busses available at a fraction of the cost. Their carbon footprint is miniscule in the grand scheme of things, especially in the short run. Maybe BYD can make quality busses in the future, but it is clear they cannot now.

            BYD is a scam that was exposed by quality investigative journalism. If you have not read it, I suggest you do. They create busses are not up to par. The tax payer should not be on the hook for insider deals. We most absolutely deserve better than what is going on with BYD and AVTA.

          • If you look you might recognize I’m not particularly advocating for BYD, or even for electric buses in general. I just refuted your claim that Proterra was an obvious source of American made higher quality electric buses at lower cost.

            I have very high hopes that they WILL BE, eventually. High enough to consider buying some Proterra stock. I might even back a well crafted argument that an intermediate step of replacing the dirty diesel fleet with one generation of NG buses to fill the gap until Proterra buses are readily available is justified, were that the argument you started out making. But you opted for the Proterra now argument, and it has a gigantic hole in it.

          • My reasoning for suggesting Proterra is because the AVTA board, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they had to go all electric. The reason why, as we now know, is less to do with environmental concerns, and everything to do with money. If all busses must be electric, we should not accept inferior product from BYD.

            Having said that, a wiser, more ethical AVTA board would have developed a plan to lower their carbon footprint with a mix of hybrid, natural gas, and reliable electric. It would save money, achieve environmental goals, and ensure users of a reliable fleet. We do not get this with BYD.

          • As I said, I’d back a well crafted argument against the “must go all electric right now” position. Throwing Proterra into it just confuses the issue, because they just don’t have the capacity at this point. Accepting the “all electric right now” position makes BYD pretty much unavoidable, so I’d say you should make clear what you are actually arguing for.

            For the record, I’m not sure that establishing the support structure for NG buses is worth the effort if they are a single generation stopgap filling in between dirty diesel and eventual Proterra electric. Switching to NG, in my opinion, is only worth doing if we are making a long term commitment to NG. It could very well be that the best solution is to get the currently available electric buses (BYD) as a stopgap and establish the support structure, then switch to Proterra or some other better electric buses as this first generation cycles out.

          • The money being spent on low performing BYD busses is way to much to be considered as a stop gap. You would spend millions less using NG or Hybrid busses for an interim solution, and sell them to other agencies that are not in bed with BYD or any other bus manufacturer.

            You do realize that the bid process was a joke, right? It was written such that only BYD would be able to bid.

            This is not how our tax dollars should be spent. We need better accountability and leadership.

          • One generation is a stopgap. You either use NG buses, which involve setting up the infrastructure to fuel them, or you use electric buses that involve setting up the infrastructure to charge them. If you are going to commit long term to using electric buses then the charging infrastructure has long term utility and an NG fueling system doesn’t. That makes up a difference in costs.

            The bid process, as I said earlier, offered very limited opportunity for bids. Proterra couldn’t bid because they couldn’t meet the delivery schedule without cancelling all their existing contracts. BYD might be the only company with the production capability that didn’t have a backlog of orders pushing beyond the delivery schedule; I don’t really know.

            I get that you have an intense dislike for BYD, and I agree with some of your reasons for it. But they are among the largest producers of electric buses in the world for a reason. At the moment it is pretty much a seller’s market.

          • Or you use hybrid buses which require no infrastructure additions, unlike BYD busses which require extensive and expensive infrastructure additions because their batteries are not at good as Proterra’s.

            Proterra could not bid on the AVTA project because the bid was written so that only BYD could meet the qualifications. That is how politics is in Lancaster. Are you new to the area?

          • One more time…Proterra is a terrible example, because writing the bid so that they could meet the qualifications would have involved keeping the dirty diesel fleet running for an extra decade. They just do not have the production capacity. They also are not in any position to guarantee exactly what their product will be at time of delivery. They are still developing their product.

            I’m not disagreeing about the corruption in Lancaster, but you aren’t making much of a point against it when you drift off into “we should have gotten these fantasy buses instead” over and over.

            And, for the record, BYD buses use the same charging facilities as Proterra buses, so if your goal is to eventually use Proterra (or any other electric) buses the investment in infrastructure is well spent.

          • Last time. Proterra or any other bus manufacturer had no shot, none, zippo, nada, at getting the AVTA contract. It was written so that BYD and only BYD could do the job.

            If you think Proterra is still “developing their product”, then what is BYD doing? Producing a very flawed product? Did you read the Los Angeles Times article?

            What should have been done if the board has not been controlled by the Lancaster Political Machine would have been to go to NG or hybrids. They are less expensive, more reliable and would not require as much infrastructure as BYD buses.

            If you think going all electric had anything to do with the environment, you are sadly mistaken. This was, is, and always will be about money, power, and control.

            How long have you been in the Antelope Valley?

          • If you think the right thing to do was go with NG or hybrids, why are you constantly touting Proterra?

            If you order a bus from BYD you order their current model, and it will be delivered as ordered in a reasonable amount of time. They may develop an improved model, even in that short term, and be selling their next customer their ‘new and improved’ bus by the time you get yours, but that’s how things work.

            If you order a bus from Proterra they aren’t even going to pretend that they will be delivering their present model by the time you get your bus in six or seven years. They know, and you know, that there will be vast changes by then and that you won’t want an obsolete bus. So they are basically pre-selling the product they expect to be building by the time your number comes up. That’s fine, IF you are willing to wait.

            Personally, I’d be inclined to replace the diesel fleet, which was not only dirty to start with but passing through expected end of life anyway, with something that was available, while planning ahead to replace those with whatever develops over the next ten years or so…because electric buses are in a phase of very rapid development. Ten years from now a company not currently in the market at all might be crushing BYD and Proterra.

            Which brings us back around to the question; what do we want to use for that interim fleet? Clearly, you don’t like BYD, but as far as electric buses currently available goes there’s not any choice that is wildly better, and like it or not the BYD marketing strategy of placing a local facility to build them wherever they get a major contract does work. (by the way, the fantasy that BYD was suddenly going to abandon that strategy and build a “permanent” facility here, or anywhere else, is a fantasy)

            I’m as loud an opponent of Wrecks and his cronies as you are likely to find, but you have to A) pick your battles and B) make sense. The constant harping over a long since done bus supply contract isn’t what I consider to be a well chosen battle, and fighting it armed with a “look at Proterra who couldn’t have provided the buses anyway” as a primary weapon makes no sense at all.