I recently came across an article that was detailing how Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris was using his political capital in order to knowingly misrepresent a situation and blatantly smear City Council candidate Johnathon Ervin. This type of behavior clearly gives further insight into the mind of the man who seems to call everyone “gangbangers.” He did it to push his Pit Bull-targeting legislation through in 2009, painting all owners of the dogs as gang members, and he just did it in March with Ervin, an African American man who attended a 2012 protest. The actual name of that protest? The “Hoodie March for Solidarity Against Stereotypes.” Didn’t matter at all to Parris, who put out a political mailer calling Ervin the “anti-law enforcement candidate” and the “gang candidate.” Incredible. Read these amazing paragraphs that were included in the mailer…

Unfortunately, one of the candidates running for City Council wants to turn back the clock and make Lancaster a magnet for street gangs and section 8 housing abuse once again. This liberal candidate’s name is Johnathon Ervin.

Electing Ervin to the City Council would give street gangs a green light to resume their criminal activities in Lancaster. If he is on the council he will know about on-going operations to fight the gangs. When he passes this information to his friends, the safety of our deputies and our families will be in jeopardy. By not voting, you will be helping gangs to roam our streets and threaten our deputies and our families.

This is so egregious that I don’t even know what to say. I’m actually speechless.

Ervin ended up coming in 3rd out of 9, right behind the 2 incumbents who will keep their seats. Mr. Ervin apparently won the vote at the polls, but was ultimately bested by the votes by mail. By my quick math only little over 9% of the city population cast votes in this election. Parris responded to the outcry over his mailer by accusing folks of playing the race card, then apologizing on Facebook.

When you look into the tactics being used by Mayor Parris, just with this situation alone, you will see an outrageous disregard for reality. His misrepresentations are literally off the charts. It’s embarrassing and pathetic that a public official can keep getting away with acting in such a simplistic, inaccurate and ignorant manner. He is an absurd human being.