{"id":473658,"date":"2026-09-24T01:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T01:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/473658\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T01:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T01:06:08","slug":"allegations-anaheim-mayor-made-racist-remarks-sexual-orientation-comments-to-be-reviewed-city-confirms-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/473658\/","title":{"rendered":"Allegations Anaheim mayor made racist remarks, sexual orientation comments to be reviewed, city confirms \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allegations of racist remarks and comments about sexual orientation lodged by Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken\u2019s chief of staff<\/a> had at least one City Council member calling for an investigation at Tuesday night\u2019s meeting and several residents pushing for her resignation.<\/p>\n

City spokesperson Mike Lyster confirmed Wednesday that a review is underway, though he said because it is a personnel issue he could not give more details.<\/p>\n

In an article published Monday night, TimesOC reported on a mediation letter sent to Anaheim City Attorney Robert Fabela alleging Aitken<\/a> referred to her chief of staff, Berenice Ballinas, by a racist term.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn various occasions when Ms. Ballinas was forced to drive Mayor Aitkin (sic) home, Mayor Aitkin (sic) exclaimed that she did \u2018not want her car driven by a dirty Mexican,\u2019\u201d Ballinas\u2019s attorney Lawrence Lennemann said in the Sept. 11 letter, according to TimesOC.<\/p>\n

Ballinas and Lennemann did not respond to requests for a copy of the letter sent to the city or for comment.<\/p>\n

Lyster said he could not release the letter. The Orange County Register filed a Public Records Act request for it on Wednesday, but government entities have several days to respond to such requests.<\/p>\n

Ballinas, who is Mexican American, has served as Aitken\u2019s chief of staff since December 2022. Ballinas has also worked for several political campaigns and local and state officials.<\/p>\n

Elected in 2022, Aitken<\/a>, a Democrat, is the first voter-elected female mayor in Anaheim\u2019s 165-year history (prior to the city\u2019s transition to district elections, the mayor position rotated among councilmembers). Aitken is running for reelection, facing two challengers in her bid for a second, four-year term.<\/p>\n

Aitken deferred requests for comment on Wednesday to a statement she made during Tuesday night\u2019s City Council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I am limited in what I can say, I humbly ask people to take a moment and look at my record \u2014 the initiatives I have championed, the communities I have stood beside, my words and, most importantly, the values I have demonstrated through my actions,\u201d Aitken said to a crowd of residents, some of whom called for her resignation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, I will readily and truthfully participate in any way that I am asked going forward,\u201d she added, before repeating the statement in Spanish.<\/p>\n

District 6 Councilmember Natalie Meeks called for an investigation into the allegations, saying during Tuesday\u2019s meeting that \u201cif they are found to be true, then I would join with the community in asking for the mayor\u2019s resignation, but she deserves, the situation deserves, an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not expect this at all,\u201d Meeks later said of the allegations. \u201cBut it needs to be investigated and addressed. Whatever segment of our community, we need to respect everybody. I do respect every group in our community and in its diversity. And so we need to make sure that our council provides that same respect to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyster did not say whether the investigation would be independently conducted, nor did he offer a timeline for results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any additional details to share at this time,\u201d he said Wednesday. \u201cAs many may understand, this touches on personnel matters that need to be addressed with sensitivity. A process is already in place and a review underway in the early stages. It is expected to be timely and thorough while respecting the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond that, we want to be thoughtful of all involved and don\u2019t have any additional updates to share at this time as the issues raised are reviewed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The TimesOC story said the letter refers to June incidents at the Disneyland Resort\u2019s private\u00a0Club 33 and 1901 Lounge, saying, \u201cMayor Aitken\u2019s\u00a0conduct was so concerning that, as a result, the city\u2019s own business partner, Disney, suspended a third party\u2019s Club 33 membership and at least two Disney employees separately complained about the mayor\u2019s conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter also alleges Aitken and former City Manager Jim Vanderpool made inappropriate inquiries into Ballinas\u2019s perceived sexual orientation at other times between 2023 and 2026, \u201cincluding 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,\u201d TimesOC reported.<\/p>\n

Vanderpool joined Anaheim as its city manager in September 2020 and resigned in February amid reports that he attended a Lake Havasu retreat paid for by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce early in his tenure with the city.<\/a><\/p>\n

The trip\u2019s guest list included some of Anaheim\u2019s most influential, including the Chamber of Commerce\u2019s leader at the time,<\/a> who later became a key figure in a federal probe into City Hall corruption.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Vanderpool did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allegations of racist remarks and comments about sexual orientation lodged by Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken\u2019s chief of staff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,15261,165,164,7,1610,1071,23,611,136],"class_list":["post-473658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-city-hall","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-city-council","tag-local-government","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}