{"id":481978,"date":"2026-10-01T20:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/481978\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T20:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:58:07","slug":"claim-against-anaheim-and-mayor-alleges-harassment-racist-remarks-and-failure-of-city-response-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/481978\/","title":{"rendered":"Claim against Anaheim and mayor alleges harassment, racist remarks and failure of city response \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anaheim councilmembers are scheduled for a closed-door meeting Friday morning, Oct. 2, to discuss a claim filed by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken\u2019s chief of staff alleging harassment, racist remarks<\/a> and retaliation and a \u201cfailure\u201d by city administration \u201cto take corrective action.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sept. 21 claim was submitted by attorney Lawrence Lennemann, who represents Aitken\u2019s<\/a> chief of staff Berenice Ballinas. It alleges Ballinas \u201csuffered ongoing harassment,\u201d faced \u201cintrusive questioning concerning her perceived sexual orientation, her Mexican heritage and her Catholic faith\u201d and that when Ballinas made disclosures to city leaders, they were not kept private as would be required by law, she experienced retaliation and the city failed to investigate and take action.<\/p>\n

Ballinas has served as Aitken\u2019s chief of staff since December 2022. Ballinas is on leave of absence beginning on or about July 31, according to the claim.<\/p>\n

The 25-page claim outlines more than a dozen examples of the experiences Ballinas is alleging occurred \u2014 including having to navigate \u201ca recurring pattern of the mayor\u2019s alcohol consumption\u201d \u2014 spanning October 2024 to June 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonitoring, responding to, and performing damage control arising from the mayor\u2019s alleged alcohol-related conduct consequently became a recurring, substantial, and exceptionally stressful component of claimant\u2019s working life,\u201d the claim alleges, adding Ballinas was wedged between a \u201cgrowing feud\u201d between the mayor and\u00a0 then City Manager Jim Vanderpool, which \u201ccomplicated her ability to determine where and how to report legitimate workplace concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanderpool served as Anaheim\u2019s city manager for six years until resigning in February.<\/p>\n

Aitken did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday, but in a recent statement posted to her Facebook page, she said, \u201cI did not use the racial slur attributed to me, and I have always been a champion of the LGBTQ community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The claim was included in the supporting documents the city included with the agenda posted Thursday for Friday\u2019s special closed session.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shared a claim as part of a special City Council closed session meeting agenda. In doing so, Anaheim is balancing openness on an issue involving the city\u2019s mayor and our responsibility to all involved. The released claim includes limited redactions reflecting our obligation to protect personnel, medical and some third-party name references that raise privacy concerns, along with attorney-client information,\u201d city spokesperson Mike Lyster said Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnaheim takes all claims seriously. Our process is moving forward, with the engagement of an independent, experienced investigator expected to be finalized soon,\u201d Lyster said. \u201cAn independent investigation is expected to take place over the next few months. We are looking for a comprehensive, impartial review that balances expediency with due process. Beyond that, we want to respect all involved and will share any additional updates as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional Anaheim councilmembers called this week for an investigation into the allegations, and at least two councilmembers have said they\u2019d ask for the mayor\u2019s resignation if the allegations were found true. Councilmember Natalie Meeks was the first to raise concerns during a council meeting last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand with Councilmember Meeks in demanding an expedited investigation,\u201d Councilmember Kurtz said during Tuesday\u2019s council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the allegations are shown to be correct, I will also ask for the Mayor\u2019s resignation,\u201d Kurtz said, later calling for a closed-door meeting for councilmembers to review the allegations.<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Aitken reiterated that she welcomes an independent investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need this independent investigation to clear my name and I really welcome it because that is what a democracy is all about,\u201d she said. \u201cYou are innocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aitken is running for reelection this November; she faces two challengers for a second, four-year term. Ballots are set to go out next week.<\/a><\/p>\n

This week the Anaheim Police Association suspended its endorsement of Aitken, saying in a statement, \u201cThe decision follows the emergence of serious allegations concerning statements and conduct attributed to Mayor Aitken involving a city employee.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anaheim councilmembers are scheduled for a closed-door meeting Friday morning, Oct. 2, to discuss a claim filed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,15261,165,164,7,1071,23,611,136],"class_list":["post-481978","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-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\/481978","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=481978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}