Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, a Democrat running for reelection in a majority-Latino city, is under review after her chief of staff claimed she repeatedly called her a “dirty Mexican” and grilled her about being a lesbian.
Employment attorney Lawrence Lennemann sent a four-page mediation demand to City Attorney Robert Fabela on September 11 for Berenice Ballinas, a Latina who remains a city employee on medical leave.
The letter says Ballinas was made to drive Aitken home from events after the mayor had been drinking.
“On various occasions when Ms. Ballinas was forced to drive Mayor Aitken home, Mayor Aitken exclaimed that she did ‘not want her car driven by a dirty Mexican,’” Lennemann wrote.
Lennemann said the line was used more than once.
The same letter accuses Aitken and former City Manager Jim Vanderpool of a years-long habit, from 2023 through June 2026, of calling Ballinas a lesbian, pressing her to admit it, and questioning her dates and guests.
“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, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, “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.”
It also describes a June outing at Disneyland’s Club 33 and the 1901 Lounge at California Adventure, where Aitken allegedly commented on a Disney worker’s sexuality and ethnicity.
Lennemann wrote that two Disney employees complained and that a third party’s Club 33 membership was suspended.
Ballinas is seeking mediation before a lawsuit.
The letter also says the city sat on an approved raise for Ballinas.
Aitken responded by asking constituents to “look at my record” and repeated that line in Spanish at Tuesday’s council meeting.
She said she would “readily and truthfully participate” in any review.
After residents demanded her resignation and Republican Councilwoman Natalie Meeks called for an investigation, the mayor posted a longer denial on Facebook.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and they deserve to be investigated. I did not use the racial slur attributed to me, and I have always been a champion of the LGBTQ community,” she wrote. “Berenice remains a City employee, and because this involves an ongoing personnel matter, there are strict limits on what I can responsibly discuss publicly.”
“I will not violate her privacy or attack an employee who has recently experienced a serious medical issue simply to defend myself in the press. I welcome an investigation and will cooperate truthfully, and I believe the facts should determine what happened. I care about Berenice and sincerely wish her well in her recovery. I also believe that I am entitled to have these extraordinarily serious allegations evaluated on the evidence.”
City spokesman Mike Lyster confirmed to The Voice of OC that a review is underway. He would not say who is running it, how long it will take, what it will cover, or whether the findings will be public.
Aitken is still on the November ballot, for now.
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