Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt spent Wednesday at a Hyde Park block party in South Los Angeles—an area Mayor Karen Bass represented in Congress—talking, taking photos, and pledging to focus on broken sidewalks that a wheelchair user says are impassable. He av
Spencer Pratt showed up for the cameras in Hyde Park on Wednesday afternoon. moving through a block party that looked built for community—barbecue trailers. ice cream. shaded canopies to fight the heat—and still managed to turn into a test of how his campaign talks to people who feel the city’s failures every day.
Pratt. a mayoral candidate. spent most of two hours at the neighborhood gathering. talking and posing for photos with the hundred or so people who showed up. The stop carried extra symbolism in South Los Angeles. a neighborhood incumbent Mayor Karen Bass represented during her years in Congress. Pratt declined to take questions from the news media. matching his posture from Saturday. when he held a meet and greet in Sherman Oaks.
For Marcella Anglada, 61, the focus wasn’t symbolism. She pulled out her phone and showed Pratt a video of nearby broken sidewalks that she said were impassable in her motorized wheelchair. “And this is why I voted for you. because I know you’re going to do something about it. ” Anglada told Pratt as he handed back her phone.
Afterward, Anglada told The Times that older residents who need mobility aids such as walkers or wheelchairs are left without options to traverse their own neighborhoods because of the broken sidewalks.
Jonathan Parker, a 39-year-old who said he grew up in the area, gave Pratt credit for campaigning there. “If you can go here, you can go anywhere,” Parker said.
Parker and his wife, Victoriah Bech Parker, run a Skid Row charity. They recently publicized a request they filed with the U.S. Justice Department, asking authorities to investigate alleged animal abuse on Skid Row. Bech Parker said Pratt was the only mayoral hopeful to show support for their effort. She said she was willing to work with anyone—Republican or Democrat—to improve conditions for people and animals in the downtown Los Angeles area known for its high rate of homelessness and large encampments.
Food and music filled the time between conversations. Residents were served barbecue, ice cream, and drinks the Pratt campaign provided from food trucks. Under shaded canopies, they listened to tunes that ranged from modern earworms to James Brown tracks from the 1970s.
At one point, Pratt posed in front of a barbecue trailer and pledged that “we’re gonna have lots of grilling in L.A.” The line landed as a shot at opponent Nithya Raman’s proposal last year to ban backyard barbecues on high fire danger days. Raman has since backed away from the ban.
Supporters also traveled from elsewhere in the city. Miki Yamashita, a Studio City resident, runs the asiansforpratt Instagram page. She wore a chartreuse shirt with “pratt” written on it. reminiscent of Charli XCX’s “brat” album cover. and told Pratt that many Asian Americans were supporting him to promote their small businesses and families. “I am a frustrated Los Angeles resident, just like Spencer,” Yamashita said.
Throughout the afternoon. Pratt was trailed by reporters and TV cameras. joined by others hoping to post images on social media. In Hyde Park. on Bass’s old turf. the campaign’s pitch came in everyday parts—walkability. sidewalks. barbecue promises—and in the deliberate refusal to take questions. as if the party itself was meant to be the answer.
Spencer Pratt Karen Bass Hyde Park South Los Angeles mayoral candidate broken sidewalks motorized wheelchair Skid Row U.S. Justice Department alleged animal abuse Nithya Raman backyard barbecues fire danger days Miki Yamashita asiansforpratt Instagram James Brown