redacted version<\/a> of the claim filed by employment attorney Lawrence Lennemann ahead of Friday\u2019s closed City Council session, which begins at 9 a.m. TimesOC reviewed the un-redacted version of the claim as well. <\/p>\nThe document makes a wide range of allegations regarding the mayor\u2019s behavior concerning race, sexuality, religion and alcohol consumption. <\/p>\n
In one, Ballinas alleges she arranged to drive Aitken and former City Manager Jim Vanderpool from an Orange County Taxpayers Assn. gala in October 2024 when Aitken made inappropriate remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mayor stated that she did not want [Ballinas] or Vanderpool to drive her vehicle because she did not want a \u2018dirty Mexican\u2019 and a \u2018[pejorative for gay] man\u2019 driving her car,\u201d the claim alleges.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the involvement and knowledge of senior leadership, no meaningful corrective intervention followed,\u201d the claim alleges.<\/p>\n
Vanderpool could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
![\"Aitken](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790916128_83_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Aitken has faced calls to resign from residents after allegations surfaced from her chief of staff.<\/p>\n
(James Carbone)<\/p>\n
Aitken\u2019s alleged conduct while consuming alcohol led to Ballinas\u2019s post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, according to the claim. <\/p>\n
Ballinas alleges she \u201cobserved a recurring pattern of the Mayor\u2019s alcohol consumption at official City functions, governmental conferences, stakeholder events, community events, City Council meeting days, and other activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ballinas claims Aitken needed a ride home after consuming alcohol before an April 22, 2025, council meeting. Aitken attended a closed session that day, according to the minutes, but was absent from the public portion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will apologize for the mayor,\u201d Councilmember Natalie Meeks said that day. \u201cShe is ill this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ballinas asserts in the claim that she was driving the mayor home in Vanderpool\u2019s city vehicle when Aitken allegedly went through his belongings, found prescription bottles and photographed them with her cellphone.<\/p>\n
Aitken, according to Ballinas\u2019s claim, disclosed finding Vanderpool\u2019s prescriptions in front of others during a Palm Springs conference later that year. Ballinas asserted in her letter that the exchange potentially violated the city manager\u2019s medical privacy.<\/p>\n
In another allegation, a Disney representative allegedly shared concerns about the mayor after she allegedly drank alcohol at a Disneyland 70th anniversary event in May 2025 and advised that she stop drinking. Others discussed how to address this before a stakeholder reception.<\/p>\n
Ballinas alleges she later offered to drive Aitken home from the Disneyland Resort. Aitken allegedly stated that she did not want a \u201cMexican\u201d to drive her, according to the claim.<\/p>\n
The following day, Aitken allegedly accused Ballinas trying to ruin her reputation.<\/p>\n
![\"Aitken](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790916129_169_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Aitken faced calls for an independent investigation from her council colleagues on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
(James Carbone)<\/p>\n
One discrimination claim involves Ballinas\u2019s Catholic faith, which Aitken allegedly mocked by referring to God as her aide\u2019s \u201cimaginary friend\u201d after looking at a cross she wore. <\/p>\n
In another incident, Aitken and Vanderpool allegedly asked inappropriate questions about Ballinas\u2019s perceived sexuality in front of others at the the Angels opening day game in 2025.<\/p>\n
Aitken, a Democrat in a non-partisan office, allegedly referred to Ballinas\u2019s friend in attendance as a her \u201cgirlfriend\u201d and, on other occassions, called her a lesbian, the claim states. The new allegation adds to a previous one in the mediation letter that claimed the mayor asked about her aide\u2019s sexual orientation at Disney\u2019s exclusive Club 33 and Lounge 1901 in June.<\/p>\n
The mayor\u2019s alleged conduct came to a breaking point for Ballinas during a U.S. conference of mayors in Tampa, Fla., last year, according to her complaint.<\/p>\n
Michael Penn, the mayor\u2019s husband, called Ballinas in the middle of the night and instructed her to get Aitken on a flight back home immediately, according to the claim.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt approximately 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. PST, Claimant was awakened by an urgent telephone call from the Mayor\u2019s husband who instructed Claimant to locate the Mayor, get her packed, and arrange for her immediate return to California,\u201d the claim states. \u201cClaimant got dressed, went to the Mayor\u2019s room, and encountered the Mayor in what Claimant perceived to be an impaired condition. <\/p>\n
\u201cClaimant remained with the Mayor, packed her belongings, attempted to stabilize the situation, and prepared to get her safely out of the hotel and back to California.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ballinas, according to her claim, \u201cwas criticized by a member of the Mayor\u2019s family for not having raised concerns sooner, despite that she had, in fact, previously communicated such concerns. [Ballinas] was pressured by members of the Mayor\u2019s family to keep them informed of the Mayors drinking and to communicate with them if she observed concerning behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
After returning home from Tampa, Ballinas was expected to cover for the mayor\u2019s extended \u2014 and unexplained \u2014 absence, according to her claim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tampa incident fundamentally and irreversibly eroded any boundary between [Ballinas\u2019] legitimate professional duties and the Mayor\u2019s personal activities [she] was expected to manage \u2014 changed the nature of [Ballinas\u2019] work environment and contributed substantially to the significant anxiety, hypervigilance, and emotional strain she experienced during the rest of her employment,\u201d according to the document.<\/p>\n
A series of current and former city officials, including Vanderpool, are listed as potential witnesses to the allegations presented in the claim, as are Disney employees.<\/p>\n
The new round of allegations follows Anaheim Councilmember Norma Campos Kurtz\u2018s recent call for the city to release all documents related to the matter. Campos Kurtz backed Meeks\u2019s push for an investigation into the allegations \u2014 a process the city confirmed is already underway<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cAnaheim takes all claims seriously,\u201d city spokesperson Mike Lyster said. \u201cOur process is moving forward, with engagement of an independent, experienced investigator expected to be finalized soon. An independent investigation is expected to take place over the next few months.\u201d<\/p>\n
The probe\u2019s timeline will likely continue beyond the Nov. 3 mayoral election in Anaheim. Aitken is seeking a second term against two political newcomers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken made racist, homophobic and religiously bigoted remarks about her chief of staff and shared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[73949,43938,9574,163,165,164,185466,189021,137851,8142,3413,6161,189022,4415,1594,2211,158536,66568],"class_list":["post-482386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-aitken","tag-alcohol-consumption","tag-allegation","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-berenice-ballinas","tag-claim-letter","tag-claimant","tag-comment","tag-concern","tag-faith","tag-former-city-manager","tag-mayor","tag-other","tag-race","tag-sexuality","tag-vanderpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482386","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=482386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}