This underdog candidate's app will expose the politicians to blame for LA's shocking filth

Los Angeles is consistently ranked as one of the dirtiest cities in the United States, but one mayoral candidate thinks tying the city's cleanliness to government officials' records is the key to getting the city spotless.

Through a municipal service called 311, residents can already report trash, graffiti, and other garbage-related issues. However, this has not helped L.A. escape the lowest rankings of studies that measure filth in big cities.

'Our city council members need to feel that when election time comes around.'

A 2025 study by Oxi Fresh measured cities in terms of the amount of rodents, vandalism, litter, and more. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim was No. 34 out of 35 cities, only ahead of New York-Newark-Jersey City, earning a D+ rating.

Another study from last year placed Los Angeles at second-worst in terms of living conditions, waste infrastructure, pollution, and resident dissatisfaction. The only city worse off than L.A. in the massive 303-city ranking system was San Bernardino, California.

Enter mayoral candidate and former television star Spencer Pratt, who says tying the record of politicians' districts in the city to cleanliness will keep them accountable.

"I created an app that will replace 311 that actually has accountability and eventually the app would merge into the city dashboards ... [or] go on the city website," Pratt said on his podcast, "The Fame Game with Heidi & Spencer."

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Pratt and his wife, Heidi, discussed the city's lack of cleanliness with Juan Naula, who spends his time showcasing the filth of L.A., while actually going out and cleaning it.

Pratt proposed that his app would allow residents to film or photograph their local garbage, which then gets geo-stamped and sent to the appropriate district representatives.

"What the app will do is it will show wherever you are in the city ... it's going to geo-stamp it, and it's going to create accountability to all the people that are responsible," Pratt continued. "It'll automatically email them and then it'll show their track record of their response time, their failures, so that we see as voters and constituents, our city council members, and they'll be ranked and rated."

The 42-year-old likened the idea to delivery services and restaurants, which live and prosper off the back of ratings systems that push them to provide satisfactory customer service.

"Why are our city council members not held to the same expectations that my mom will hold the place [giving] her spinach artichoke choke dip," the host asked.

RELATED: LA Times gets scorched for trying to disqualify Pratt for mayor — because his home burned down in Palisades fire

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images/MTV

The L.A. website's reportable services currently includes dumping and trash collection issues, bulk item pickups, potholes and graffiti reports, parking enforcement, and animal services.

There is no built-in measurement for accountability, but a review of city data by UCLA showed that the typical response time was four to six days depending on the situation.

Anonymous reports allegedly took a day longer to solve than named reports; five days versus four days. At the same time, Android submissions took an average of six days for a resolution while Apple report had a response time of five days.

The pressure of performance was paramount for Pratt, who said "our city council members need to feel that when election time comes around."

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