Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt took his campaign to South Los Angeles on Wednesday, an area that incumbent Mayor Karen Bass represented during her years in Congress.
Pratt spent most of the two hours at the Hyde Park party talking and taking pictures with the hundred or so people who came. He declined to answer questions from the media, as he did Saturday at a meet and greet in Sherman Oaks.
Marcella Anglada, 61, took out her phone and showed Pratt a video of broken sidewalks that she said were inaccessible to her wheelchair.
“That's why I voted for you, because I know you're going to do something about it,” Anglada told Pratt when he returned the call.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt spent the better part of two hours at the Hyde Park party talking and taking pictures with the hundred or so people who came.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Elderly residents who need mobility aids such as walkers or wheelchairs are left with no means of getting around their neighborhoods because of broken roads, he told The Times afterward.
Jonathan Parker grew up in the area and credited Pratt with campaigning there.
“If you can go here, you can go anywhere,” the 39-year-old said.
Parker and wife Victoriah Bech Parker run the charity Skid Row. They recently announced a petition they filed with the US Department of Justice, asking authorities to investigate allegations of animal abuse at Skid Row. Pratt, Bech Parker said, is the only mayor hoping to show support for their effort.
Bech Parker said she is willing to work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — to improve conditions for people and animals in an area of downtown LA known for its high rate of homelessness and overcrowding.
Residents were served barbecue, ice cream and drinks by the Pratt campaign provided by food trucks while sheltering from the heat under shaded canopies and listening to songs ranging from modern ears to James Brown tracks from the 1970s.
At one point, Pratt posed in front of a barbecue trailer, promising that “we're going to have a lot of food in LA”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
At one point, Pratt posed in front of a barbecue trailer, promising that “we're going to have a lot of grills in LA” — a shot at opponent Nithya Raman's proposal last year to ban backyard grills on fire-danger days. Raman has even backed down from the ban.
Other supporters from elsewhere in the city include Miki Yamashita, who runs the Instagram page asiansforpratt. The Studio City resident wore a chartreuse shirt with the word “pratt” written on it—reminiscent of Charli XCX's “brat” album cover—and told Pratt that many Asian Americans were rooting for him to improve their small businesses and families.
“I'm a frustrated Los Angeles resident, just like Spencer,” Yamashita said.
Pratt was followed by reporters and TV cameras throughout the afternoon, joined by others who wanted to post pictures on their social media pages.
