‘The mayor will welcome them’: LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt says Seattle’s policies will attract LA’s homeless population

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt warned that thousands of the city’s homeless will relocate to cities like Seattle if he’s elected.

In an interview with ABC, the former reality TV star said most people living on LA’s streets are battling addiction, not homelessness. If the city stops funding what he described as a “broken nonprofit system” intended to aid those experiencing homelessness, many will leave for cities with more permissive policies — like Seattle.

“They’re not homeless, they’re drug addicts,” Pratt said in the interview. “These people have been bused in by scam rehabs, scam NGOs, scam homeless nonprofits. They’re all going to Seattle, where the mayor will welcome them.”

During his campaign, Pratt has argued that LA’s homeless problem is not due to spending too little to address it, but due to spending too much on waste and “doing the wrong things.”

“For years, the Homeless Industrial Complex has prioritized process over outcomes, warehousing over treatment, and press releases over results,” Pratt’s campaign stated. “Spencer will dismantle that system and replace it with a treatment-led recovery model that addresses mental illness and addiction as the primary drivers of chronic homelessness.”

Pratt said he’s already spoken with federal agencies about building a large-scale treatment facility on federal land.

Last week, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a measure that allows larger homeless shelters and tiny-home villages.

Pratt’s five-step plan to address homelessness in LA

Pratt published a five-step plan to address LA’s homelessness problem, going as far as to say the city doesn’t have a homeless problem, but a drug problem instead.

Step 1 is to “break the cycle,” meaning no more distribution of drug paraphernalia. Step 2 is to use the recently passed Senate Bill 43, which classifies severe drug users as “gravely disabled” and allows the county to place any and all street drug users on a 5150 hold for 72 hours — which can be extended by two weeks.

“This isn’t jail. This is mandatory rehab,” Pratt wrote. “This is what you do for people you care about.”

Step 3 is to “end the body brokering,” meaning the homeless population who came from outside the city or the state will no longer be welcome and will be sent back home where they originally came from.

“Many of the addicts you see around your neighborhood are bused in from other states in order for local NGOs to profit off their addiction,” Pratt wrote. “As soon as I am mayor, every addict who was trafficked here from outside LA is getting a free ride home, back to their families. That immediately resolves a third of the problem, overnight.”

His final two steps are to involve the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help dismantle transnational cartels and to provide more than drug rehab, but civil rehab as well, including job training and involvement in community services.

Before getting involved in politics, Pratt appeared in 86 episodes of the original MTV reality television series “The Hills” and 27 episodes of the revival series “The Hills: New Beginnings,” in addition to appearances on other television programs, including “Celebrity Big Brother.”

He announced his mayoral campaign on the first anniversary of the Palisades fire, which destroyed his home.

Contributing: KIRO Newsradio

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