Free Republic

Anaheim’s mayor is facing an extraordinary workplace complaint from her own chief of staff that paints a picture of booze, alleged harassment and political-business-as-usual gone badly off the rails. Chief of Staff Berenice Ballinas claims Mayor Ashleigh Aitken repeatedly appeared intoxicated at city functions — including one City Council meeting — and that on one occasion the mayor allegedly ended up pawing through a former city manager’s car on the ride home. Ballinas’ 25-page claim, released by the city Thursday, also accuses Aitken of making crude comments about her sexuality and using a racial slur against her. Among the allegations,...

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken is pushing back against accusations that she called her chief of staff a “dirty Mexican,” issuing her first direct denial as the controversy threatens to engulf City Hall. Aitken released the statement Thursday after her chief of staff, Berenice Ballinas, made the damning allegations that also claimed the mayor questioned the staffer’s sexuality during a trip to Disneyland. “These allegations are extremely serious, and they deserve to be investigated. I did not use the racial slur attributed to me, and I have always been a champion of the LGBTQ community,” Aitken, a Democrat, said in her...