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.

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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 sai...