Spencer Pratt, ‘The Hills’ star, announces run for Mayor of Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (NBC, KYMA) - Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt filed to run for Mayor of Los Angeles Tuesday.
Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades Fire last year, started his campaign with sharp criticism of incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
A lightning rod joining the fray in the L.A. mayor's race.
Wearing a T-shirt dedicated to his wife's 2010 pop album, Pratt filed as a candidate for mayor, saying his message to voters is simple.
"Because it's me or Karen Bass. And we have no other choice," Pratt remarked.
Pratt was one of many living in the Pacific Palisades who lost their homes in last January's fires.
He became a vocal critic of how Mayor Bass handled the fires and aftermath, announcing his candidacy for mayor at the one year remembrance for the Palisades Fire last month.
"She should have resigned a long time ago. It's scary to think about what's going on outside of the Palisades where they don't have somebody like me every day trying to expose and fight for accountability," Pratt expressed.
When asked what issues are a priority for Pratt outside of the Palisades, he said, "First, homelessness. Because we spend, everyone makes up different numbers, but let's just throw billions, we spend billions of dollars to clean the streets up, and there's more homeless now than there have ever been."
Pratt also listed crime and corruption as priorities, saying if elected, he'll enlist the IRS to audit the city government.
"As mayor, I have a good relationship with the IRS criminal investigations team. First week, I'm bringing them in, here's all the books. Open this up, let's see all the corruption," Pratt shared.
An NBC affiliate in Los Angeles spoke to Fernando Guerra, a political expert who says the federal agency wouldn't be able to audit the City of L.A.
"He begins to show his lack of experience and understanding of how government works, the idea that the IRS itself would be interested in doing it, have the legal authority to do it, and even have the expertise to do it," Guerra, who's also a professor at Loyola Marymount University, explained.
The NBC affiliate reached out to Bass's office for a response to Pratt's criticisms and calls for her to resign, but they did not immediately hear back.
