‘I don’t know how many homeless centers you’ve been in, but this is the first one that doesn’t stink,’ Mayor Rex Parris bragged of his Southern California city’s modern approach to homeless housing.
Parris, 73, the outspoken Republican leader of Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County, has given the Daily Mail a tour of his city’s 14-acre ‘campus’ for the homeless on the edge of the Mojave Desert.
Earlier this year the firebrand mayor called for a ‘purge’ of homeless people, blasting them as ‘predators’ and ‘a dangerous blight on all of our lives.’
He also suggested a free giveaway of deadly fentanyl for drug addicts to clear them from the streets, and expressed his desire to employ armed drones to combat crime in his city of nearly 170,000.
Today, Parris, who himself is a former drug addict, is happy to show off the jewel of his city’s homeless services: a state-of-the art complex with more than 300 units.
The $59 million Kensington Campus in Antelope Valley opened in 2020 with 150 permanent housing units and 153 temporary housing beds. It feeds residents three meals a day and offers free counseling, psychiatry and job training. There’s also a kennel for their pets.
Housing each resident costs $11,500 per year and the complex is ‘maintained by the people living here,’ according to Parris.
It also seems that nobody wants to leave. Residents rave about everything from staff support to the quality of the food, and the center was recently near capacity.
The campus’ success stands in stark contrast to deep-blue California’s major cities, which have been struggling with a persistent homelessness crisis.
A homeless man stands amid a collection of debris in an illegal encampment in Lancaster, California, about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles
Kensington boasts a 2-percent eviction rate compared with between 10 and 20 percent at similar facilities, according to Deputy Mayor Heather Varden, who called it a place where ‘individuals can transition from crisis to independence.’
‘People behave [here],’ Parris said. ‘They don’t want to get kicked out.’
Parris, a trial attorney who has served as mayor since 2008, said of the campus: ‘If I did nothing else, it would have been a life well lived.’
Lancaster sits at the end of the Metrolink commuter line, 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles’ Union Station.
Celebrities including Kristen Wiig, Frank Zappa, Judy Garland and John Wayne grew up in the city, where tumbleweeds bounce along the high-desert terrain.
Incorporated in 1977, the 96-square-mile community has a hopeful motto: ‘Creating a better tomorrow. Together.’
Roughly 20 homeless people arrive via Metrolink trains daily into Lancaster, said City Manager Trolis Niebla.
He told the Daily Mail there were initial complaints from locals when Kensington opened because the facility was housing some homeless people from out of town.
‘It was shortly after Kensington came online, but we spoke with the county and stopped that,’ he said. ‘This particular location was intended to be for our local residents only.’
Incorporated in 1977, the high-desert city of Lancaster consists of 96 square miles in the Mojave desert
Roughly 20 homeless people arrive daily into Lancaster via Metrolink trains
Homelessness numbers were lower in Lancaster until about 2015, but the city saw a gradual increase over the years before rates ‘spiked’ during Covid.
Situated on the other side of the City of Angels by a stretch of mountains, Lancaster is the ‘forgotten land of the county,’ Niebla noted.
He said that LA County collects $14 million in tax revenue from Lancaster under Measure A, an initiative that brings in money from sales taxes to help with homelessness. But Lancaster gets back only $2.5 million from that fund.
‘We don’t get our fair share up here,’ he said. ‘We’re underfunded, but it makes us more resilient.’
Last year city workers removed a staggering 550 tons of trash and waste from homeless encampments across the city, with 30 tons hauled from a single site in November.
Niebla believes that ‘nine out of 10’ homeless people are ‘not interested in hearing about services that could help because they want to be out there with their dogs, with their freedom and with their drugs.’
The US Interagency Council on Homelessness reports that between 40 and 60 percent of homeless Americans have jobs but cannot afford homes. The council also attributes high rates of outdoor living to restrictions and discriminatory policies at some shelters, such as limiting admittance to people who are sober or without criminal records.
In February, Parris controversially told attendees at a city council meeting that those who are both homeless and addicted to drugs should be given ‘all the fentanyl they want,’ leading to death threats against the mayor.
He insisted to the Daily Mail that the comment was merely ‘a metaphor’ and ‘you’d have to be an idiot to think I was serious.’
He also suggested a ‘purge’ of the homeless at the same meeting, later clarifying: ‘Yes, I want to purge them from our community. But no, I don’t want to kill them.’
He nonetheless defends his abrasive stance.
‘There’s nobody here that I haven’t had a similar experience to,’ said Parris, who was raised in Lancaster by his mother, dropped out of high school and is 40 years sober. ‘Maybe that’s why I’m not a sympathetic person.’
![Kensington Campus has a 2-percent eviction rate compared to between 10 and 20 percent at similar facilities. 'People behave [here]. They don't want to get kicked out,' said Mayor Rex Parris (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/04/29/05/97807327-14658007-image-a-29_1745902727767.jpg)
Kensington Campus has a 2-percent eviction rate compared to between 10 and 20 percent at similar facilities. ‘People behave [here]. They don’t want to get kicked out,’ said Mayor Rex Parris (pictured)
Two years ago, the city introduced a new police department led by Chief Rodrick Armalin to ‘augment’ the LA County Sheriff’s Department
Inside the Kensington campus
Accommodation at Kensington is a mixture of small cubicles in dorms for temporary residents, and 650-square-foot, one-bedroom, furnished apartments for longer-term residents.
The cubicles do not have doors, to comply with fire regulations, and each features a single bed, a shelf for personal belongings and a clothing rack.
Alex Jones, 39, told the Daily Mail that he was living in his car before moving into a dorm in August 2023.
He described Kensington as an ‘opportunity to have your own place’ and hopes to move into a long-term apartment.
The former forklift driver said he lost his job at Ikea after getting injured and then became homeless amid a romantic breakup.
‘It was pretty decent until I hurt myself,’ he said of the job, ‘and then they kind of laid me off.’
William Deoacamara, 25, told the Daily Mail he had been staying at Kensington for two weeks after living in a trailer in the desert with no running water or regular electricity.
There were solar panels, he said, ‘but it was only enough for my refrigerator.’
Kensington Campus, which opened in 2020, contains 153 interim housing beds and 150 permanent housing units. The modern site includes a cafeteria where residents receive three hot meals a day. They are also provided with free services including counseling, psychiatry and job training
Kensington resident William Deoacamara told the Daily Mail he had been at the housing facility for two weeks. Before moving in, he lived in the desert in a trailer on a street corner with no running water or regular electricity
Homelessness numbers were lower in Lancaster until about 2015, but the city saw a gradual increase over the years before rates ‘spiked’ during Covid
Deoacamara previously worked with his uncle installing cables for security cameras, internet and TV, but ‘we didn’t get along.’
‘I didn’t know how to love my family,’ he said. ‘I would get upset.
‘But nowadays I don’t get upset, because I learn how to love my family.’
Jose Romero, 57, was a successful jockey in California and New York who won $5 million for horse owners until he developed an alcohol addiction.
‘I wouldn’t wish alcoholism on anyone,’ he told the Daily Mail, saying his previous sober living facilities cost $1,000 a month.
‘It could happen to anybody – lawyers, doctors.’
Today, with help from Kensington staff, he is getting back on his feet and has found work as a security guard.
‘The food is excellent here and they treat us with a lot of respect,’ Romero said.
Alex Jones (pictured) told the Daily Mail he was living in his car before moving into a Kensington dorm in August 2023. The former forklift operator said he became homeless after losing his job and going through a breakup
‘The food is excellent here and they treat us with a lot of respect,’ said Kensington resident Jose Romero
Homelessness clearing teams give occupants of unauthorized sites one week’s notice to move
Lancaster City Manager Trolis Niebl believes most homeless people are ‘not interested in hearing about services that could help because they want to be out there with their dogs, with their freedom and with their drugs’
Clearing encampments
Andrew Noga heads up the the department clearing the city’s homeless encampments, which has a $3.5 million annual budget.
He has lived in Lancaster since 1976. ‘It was a beautiful little town, a little farm town, nice and clean,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Noga said that during his time on the job, he has seen underground ‘shanties’ and ‘apartments’ built in drainage tunnels, using electricity ‘jumped’ from street lights.
One setup featured a microwave oven, a radio, power tools and a toilet.
Noga said his crews give occupants a seven-day warning before moving in on a site.
While surveying one site, Noga pointed out a man and woman living on a patch of unshaded shrubland with three pit bulls. His team had ordered them to move within a week.
The woman declined to speak about her living situation, saying: ‘That’s my business.’ Noga predicted it would take his team a day to remove the camp and fill in the holes left behind.
Last year workers removed a staggering 550 tons of trash and waste from homeless encampments across Lancaster
Andrew Noga is in charge of the cleaning teams that clear the city’s homeless encampments
‘It’s tough because you do feel the humanity,’ Noga said. ‘Most of them don’t want us to help. They don’t want to help themselves’
‘It’s tough because you do feel the humanity,’ Noga said. ‘Most of them don’t want us to help. They don’t want to help themselves.’
Niebla said the city aims to provide necessary services, including medical help and skills training, to the homeless, but not at the expense of the city’s other residents.
‘If you don’t want any of our help, then you need to move on to another location or another city,’ he said.
‘But if you’re local and you want our help, we have robust programs.’
Those programs include inpatient and outpatient behavioral health and substance abuse treatments, ‘living skills enhancement’ to help individuals maintain sobriety, free job training, legal assistance and medical clinics.
Meanwhile, city officials said they will make sure Los Angeles does not export their homeless to Lancaster amid predicted clean-ups ahead of the 2026 World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics.
‘We’ll take care of our challenges. You take care of yours,’ Parris said.
‘I’ve already told [LA Mayor Karen Bass], we are not the solution to your homeless problem.’
Policing with drones
Two years ago the city introduced a new police department to ‘augment’ the LA County Sheriff’s Department, calling it ‘hybrid policing.’
Parris said that rival gangs like the infamous Bloods and Crips have teamed up to commit crimes in Lancaster, making law enforcement ‘more challenging.’
Police Chief Rodrick Armalin said the city also faces problems with the Armenian mafia and Chinese gangs, as well as illegal marijuana growing in residential homes.
Parris said he wants to combat lawlessness with remote-operated drones hovering over the city.
Lancaster is investing in a fleet of advanced ‘first responder’ drones that Armalin said will be stationed at key locations around the city.
With the assistance of AI for navigation, they will hover over a crime scene and gather real-time intelligence, which will then be shared with responding officers via their cell phones.
The drones will be linked to the city’s active ‘shot spotter system,’ launching and deploying at the sound of gunfire. They will also respond to license plate reader cameras searching for stolen vehicles, among other capabilities, Armalin said.
He called the drones ‘excellent for de-escalation’ and ‘the wave of the future.’
‘We’re going all in on them,’ he said.
![Niebla described Lancaster as the ¿forgotten land of [Los Angeles] county'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/04/29/06/97807391-14658007-image-a-45_1745903551970.jpg)
Niebla described Lancaster as the ‘forgotten land of [Los Angeles] county’
Mayor Parris welcomed Donald Trump for a presidential visit in 2020. ‘I tell people: Don’t pay attention to what Trump says. Pay attention to what he does,’ he said
Meeting the president
In speaking with the Daily Mail, Parris could not resist sharing his glowing admiration for President Donald Trump.
‘People are in an uproar about Trump, but the one thing you have got to say about Trump: He sees a solution and he does not care what people think of it,’ Parris said. ‘If it is a viable solution, he goes for it.’
In 2020 he met Trump as he got off Air Force One in Los Angeles. ‘It was an amazing experience for me, the mayor said. ‘The Trump you see face-to-face is not the Trump you see on television. Totally different.’
Parris said the president was ‘totally focused on me’ during their three minutes together.
‘I tell people: Don’t pay attention to what Trump says,’ the mayor added. ‘Pay attention to what he does.’
