United Kingdom, Jan. 8 -- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's team have hit out at Spencer Pratt's bid to take her job.

The 42-year-old reality star announced earlier this week he was running for office, having been a critic of City Hall since he and wife Heidi Montag lost their home in the devastating wildfires last year, but the current mayor's stragetist, Douglas Herman, has suggested the move is simply a publicity stunt.

Douglas told Entertainment Weekly in a statement: "It's no shock that in advance of his imminent book release, a reality TV 'villain' who once staged a fake divorce to boost ratings and spent the last summer spewing post-fire misinformation and disinformation to pump up his social media following, would now announce he's...