Anaheim mayor accused of making racist, inappropriate sexual comments

The mayor of Anaheim allegedly called her chief of staff a “dirty Mexican” and questioned her sexuality during a lunch at Disneyland, according to a leaked letter.

Democrat Ashleigh Aitken’s chief of staff, Berenice Ballinas, made the damning allegations in a Sept. 11 note sent to the city attorney, signed by her lawyer, and reviewed by TimesOC.

Her lawyer says Aitken, who is running for her second term, made the slur while Ballinas was driving her home, which she sometimes did since beginning her work with Aitken in 2022.

“On various occasions when Ms. Ballinas was forced to drive Mayor Aitkin home, Mayor Aitkin [sic] exclaimed that she did ‘not want her car driven by a dirty Mexican,’” employment attorney Lawrence Lennemann wrote in his mediation request to Anaheim City Attorney Robert Fabela.

It also details a June lunch at Disneyland’s hyper-exclusive Club 33 and California Adventure’s 1901 Lounge.

Club 33 is renowned by Disney fans for costing tens of thousands of dollars to obtain a membership. The 1901 lounge is also exclusive to Club 33 members.

At the destinations, Aitken questioned Ballinas’ sexuality in front of other people, reports said. The mayor also allegedly gossiped about a Disney worker’s sexual orientation and ethnicity.

Several Disney employees complained about Aitken’s conduct and a third party’s Club 33 membership was suspended, the letter said.

“Mayor Aitken’s conduct was so concerning that, as a result, the City’s own business partner, Disney, suspended a third party’s Club 33 membership and at least two Disney employees separately complained about the Mayor’s conduct,” the letter says.

She also included former Anaheim city manager James Vanderpool in her letter. Ballinas said Vanderpool and Aitken both commented on her sexuality over the years.

Vanderpool resigned earlier this year due to a separate scandal involving a state probe into an unreported Lake Havasu trip paid for by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce in 2020.

“Beginning in or about 2023 and continuing through at least June 2026, Mayor Aitken and Mr. Vanderpool repeatedly and habitually made unwelcome comments regarding Ms. Ballinas’ perceived sexuality,” the letter claims, “including myriad statements and insinuations that she is a lesbian, directly referring to her as a lesbian, pressuring her to admit that she was a lesbian, questioning of her romantic relationships, and comments directed at her guests and companions.”

Among other allegations, Aitken pressed the Mexican American Ballinas to admit fault for a missing Christmas tree from another city department in 2024, the letter states.

Ballinas’ attorney says she endured a “sustained pattern of harassment, discriminatory treatment and, most recently, retaliation” that led to city medical personnel diagnosing her with post traumatic stress disorder.

The 31-year-old is now recovering on leave from her city work due to a brain aneurysm she suffered that required surgery.

Aitken’s chief of staff also serves as a board member for EMERGE California, which trains Democratic women leaders to run for office. She formerly worked for Rep. Adam Gray when he served in the state assembly and former California state senator Josh Newman.

Vanderpool resigned earlier this year due to a separate scandal involving a state probe into an unreported Lake Havasu trip paid for by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce in 2020.

Lennemann says there is evidence that Anaheim officials have retaliated against Ballinas by withholding an approved raise, taking her off the city website and suggested to outside parties that she is no longer a city employee.

Aitken responded directly to the allegations in a comment to the Voice of OC, where her father is the chair of their board of directors.

“I am limited in how I may respond, but I can ask that you look to my record, my words, my initiatives and my values to inform your opinion of my character,” she said in a Tuesday statement sent to the Voice of OC through text message.

Aitken was first elected to be Anaheim’s first female mayor in 2022 after failing on her first run in 2018.

She’s facing an election challenge from Anaheim Dr. Imran Sharief. He told the Voice of OC that residents deserve transparency about the allegations.

“Anaheim is one of the most diverse cities in America, and our leaders have a responsibility to treat every resident and employee with dignity and respect. The people of Anaheim deserve to know the truth about what happened.”

The California Post reached out to Ballinas, Aitken and Vanderpool for comment.

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