Mayor, City of Lancaster
Parris was elected mayor of his hometown, Lancaster, in 2008. He has overseen the city’s push to alternative energy, working with solar-power, hydrogen and electric vehicle businesses with the goal of making Lancaster a zero net energy city. All of Lancaster’s municipal buildings have been converted to solar power. In 2019, he was named a Green Power Leader of the nation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Parris is a career lawyer. He obtained the first million-dollar verdict in Kern County as a young lawyer and, years later, obtained a historic defamation jury verdict in Los Angeles for $370 million. His law firm is a supporter of the Jacob Hefter Foundation, a Palmdale nonprofit dedicated to keeping young adults safe as they pursue higher education. He is a founder of and investor in CarthroniX, a biotech firm in Lancaster developing treatments for degenerative diseases.