Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken faces a 25-page workplace claim from her chief of staff alleging repeated intoxication, staff harassment and a racial slur weeks before she seeks reelection.
The city of Anaheim released the complaint from Chief of Staff Berenice Ballinas on Thursday. It describes alleged drinking at official and private events, crude personal questions, a racial slur, and retaliation after Ballinas raised spending and staffing concerns.
Mayor Aitken and the City Council were scheduled to discuss the claim behind closed doors Friday morning. The filing lands as Aitken prepares a November reelection bid against two political newcomers.
Ballinas’ account, detailed in New York Post reporting on the released claim, portrays a pattern of conduct that left staff managing the fallout of the mayor’s alleged impairment and personal boundary violations.
One episode Ballinas describes traces to an April 2025 City Council meeting. She says Aitken appeared “visibly impaired by alcohol” and needed a ride home after a closed session.
Ballinas drove the mayor in former City Manager Jim Vanderpool’s car. According to the claim, Aitken then searched the vehicle and Vanderpool’s personal belongings and snapped photographs. Portions of the claim are redacted on what, if anything, was found.
That sequence sits at the center of the workplace filing: a top aide saying she had to ferry an impaired elected official and then watched that official rifle through a city manager’s property.
Ballinas also points to a June 10 birthday lunch at Disneyland’s Club 33. She says Aitken drank for hours, kept drinking afterward, and repeatedly questioned her about her sexual orientation.
The claim continues at the 1901 Lounge in Disney California Adventure. There, Ballinas alleges, the mayor questioned a Disney Cast Member about whether he was gay or straight and pressed for details about his dating life.
Ballinas further claims Aitken made crude comments about her sexuality and used a racial slur against her in front of Vanderpool. She also says the mayor described God as “her imaginary friend.”
Aitken has previously denied allegations that she made racist or homophobic remarks. The claim itself supplies the specific accusations now before the council.
Another undated incident in the claim involves a Team Anaheim dinner. Ballinas alleges Aitken showed physical affection toward a person whose name is redacted in the filing.
Aitken’s husband removed her from the gathering, the claim states. Ballinas says the mayor then knocked over a bicycle, damaged its mirror, and fell into the street.
Ballinas says she warned the mayor’s husband that Aitken was not okay. His alleged reply was blunt.
Aitken’s husband answered:
“Don’t we all?”
That exchange, if accurate, frames the problem as ordinary rather than a breach of public duty. Taxpayers fund city leadership expecting sober judgment, not staff cleanup of dinner-table disorder.
Ballinas ties the personal allegations to a retaliation claim. She says she raised concerns about a nearly $17,000 Qatar trip, police overtime, and city employees allegedly helping with Aitken’s prayer breakfast during work hours.
After those concerns, she alleges, her salary raise was withheld. The Los Angeles Times’ Daily Pilot reported that the state Fair Political Practices Commission declined to investigate the Qatar matter. The workplace claim still treats the raise decision as payback for speaking up.
Public employees who flag overtime use, foreign travel costs, and on-the-clock campaign-adjacent work are supposed to get a fair hearing, not a frozen paycheck. The claim puts that basic expectation in writing.
Aitken’s attorney, Lawrence Lennemann, declined to discuss the allegations with Voice of OC. He said the claim speaks for itself.
The city already released the 25-page filing. The mayor and council then moved the discussion into a closed session Friday morning. Voters heading into a November contest will not hear that exchange in public.
Workplace claims are not court verdicts. They are sworn accusations that demand a serious process, clear records, and consequences if proven. They also demand a fair chance for the accused official to answer with facts, not silence dressed up as strategy.
What the claim already puts on the table is concrete: alleged intoxication at a council-related event, a staff-driven ride home, searching a city manager’s car, hours of drinking at a Disney club, invasive questions about sexuality directed at an aide and a cast member, a racial slur allegation, a dinner that ended with property damage and a fall into the street, and a raise withheld after complaints about travel money and staff time.
Anaheim residents did not hire a mayor to leave aides managing impairment, boundary-crossing questions, and damaged bikes. They hired one to run a city.
Closed doors and a document that “speaks for itself” will not settle whether city hall kept basic standards of sobriety, respect, and clean personnel practice. November will give voters their own chance to weigh the record that is now public.
