Nithya Raman campaign tries to slam Poop Zone attack ads with ethics complaint, but group fires back

Nithya Raman’s campaign is firing back at a political group trolling her homelessness record with fake real estate signs, a rundown RV and an AI phone line impersonating the mayoral hopeful.The campaign filed an ethics complaint Sunday accusing Thrive LA of five disclosure violations and demanding action before the Nov.3 election.But Thrive denies wrongdoing, accusing Raman of trying to bully critics into silence.The clash erupted after Thrive unleashed a series of ads for the fictional “Nithya Raman Realty,” featuring an AI-generated Raman promising, “We got A Tent to Give You!” alongside warnings of “Needles, Crime, Tents, Zero Accountability.”Another sign advertises a “Designated Poop Zone” coming to a neighborhood near you.The group also sent a battered RV cruising through LA, mimicking the dilapidated vehicles lining city streets.Thrive executive director Ana Teresa Dahan defended the campaign as political satire, saying the group’s political spending and advertising were disclosed through the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, where The California Post independently verified the existence of public filings.“They wouldn’t have known it was us if we hadn’t put the disclosure,” Dahan told The Post Monday.“We’re a small organization, so we had to be scrappy,” she added.But Raman’s campaign said the problem goes beyond the signs themselves.The mock real estate ads feature a phone number answered by an AI-generated voice impersonating Raman, inviting callers into an interactive conversation about homelessness, according to the complaint.The Post independently dialed the number and heard a woman’s voice asking questions, including where the caller would prefer to pitch a tent.Each answer triggered another question, continuing a back-and-forth exchange mocking Raman’s homelessness policies.During The Post’s call, the voice did not identify Thrive as the sponsor or disclose that the conversation was AI-generated political adv...