{"id":22820,"date":"2012-10-10T16:32:32","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T23:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=22820"},"modified":"2012-10-15T14:05:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T21:05:57","slug":"lancaster-resolves-section-8-lawsuit-both-sides-to-form-committee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/10\/10\/lancaster-resolves-section-8-lawsuit-both-sides-to-form-committee\/","title":{"rendered":"Lancaster resolves Section 8 lawsuit, both sides to form committee"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(L to R) TCAL Board Member V. Jesse Smith, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, TCAL Board Member Emmett Murrell and Lancaster Council Member Sandra Johnson. After a long public battle, the parties have agreed to put aside their differences and work together to benefit Lancaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 Flanked by leaders of the NAACP and The Community Action League, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris announced Wednesday that the parties have reached an agreement in the Section 8 discrimination lawsuit against Lancaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to working with these guys, they\u2019re good men and bright men and we seem to want the same things,\u201d Parris said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite frankly a lot more productive to play together than to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agreement resolves a federal fair housing lawsuit, filed in June 2011, by the NAACP, TCAL, and three Section 8 tenants, claiming Black and Latino families using Section 8 housing vouchers in Lancaster and Palmdale were victims of constant, unbearable harassment at the hands of housing authority investigators, sheriff\u2019s deputies and local politicians. (Read the entire complaint here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Though not named in the lawsuit, the County of Los Angeles reached a settlement related to the allegations in January of this year. (Read more here<\/a>). Palmdale followed about a week later. (Read more here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

At the time, Parris blasted both entities for settling the allegations and vowed that Lancaster would fight the lawsuit all the way to the end. (Read more here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>). Both sides continued to attack each other publicly for the better part of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe painted each other as the devil in the press,\u201d Parris said.<\/p>\n

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AV-NAACP President Juan Blanco shakes hands with Mayor R. Rex Parris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe had villainized one another to the point where we probably thought we could not heal,\u201d said TCAL Board Member Emmett Murrell. \u201cIt was a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a long contentious public battle, both sides finally decided to put their differences aside and talk to each other, Parris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that it was far more things we agreed about, than we disagreed,\u201d Parris said. \u201cAs mayor, I should have made that phone call and I did not, and I apologize for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis paradigm has changed and our paradigm has changed, that\u2019s why we\u2019re at this table,\u201d said AV-NAACP President Juan Blanco. \u201cI am pleased and tickled pink that we are here to make this progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the terms of the Agreement, which was signed and dated by both parties and their attorneys:<\/p>\n