General (14)
Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Mercadante <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, September 22, 2026 6:39 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] On Behalf of Stephanie Mercadante, District 4, Councilmember Norma
Campos Kurtz
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
For public comment on September 22, 2026:
I want to talk about Anaheim’s water. But, the water issue has exposed something much bigger
happening inside City Hall.
Residents raised serious concerns. Employees raised serious concerns. Whistleblowers came
forward.
So I have three very simple questions:
Who investigated? Who interviewed the whistleblowers? Who followed the evidence?
From what we’ve seen, nobody did.
And instead of investigating, what happened? The people who raised these concerns were
dismissed. They were admonished from this dais. They were publicly labeled the “disinformation
brigade.” One resident was even told she should be ashamed of herself.
Think about that.
Someone comes before her own government with a serious concern, and instead of investigating it,
she is told to be ashamed.
Mayor Aitken, that tells us something about your leadership. You are the mayor. You set the tone.
You made these statements. And you have repeatedly chosen to dismiss these concerns rather than
seriously examine them.
You didn’t have to believe your constituents. You didn’t have to agree with them. Regardless, you had
an obligation to investigate.
Instead, you made the people asking the questions the target. That is not accountability. That is not
transparency. That is not leadership.
And then we have the public records. The delays. The redactions. The changing deadlines. The
unanswered questions. That’s where Theresa Bass comes into this.
Transparency means nothing if the public cannot get the information it needs to hold its government
accountable.
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Put it all together: People raise concerns. Their concerns are dismissed. People who speak up are
shamed. Information becomes harder to obtain. Then City Hall wonders why people don’t trust it.
That’s not a mystery. That’s a consequence.
Council Members, I’m not asking Mayor Aitken to change. Her record negatively speaks for itself. I’m
asking the rest of you what kind of Council you are going to be.
Investigate the water. Interview the whistleblowers. Follow the evidence. Release the records. Stop
making the people who raise the questions defend themselves for asking them.
The problem isn’t the person asking the question. The problem is what happens when nobody
answers it.
And I want to end with this: I stand with Berenice Ballinas. I stand with every whistleblower who has
had the courage to come forward. They should not be ashamed. They should not be silenced. They
should not have to stand alone.
Speaking up is not the problem. Speaking up is civic responsibility. If City Hall cannot tolerate difficult
questions, then the problem isn't the people asking them. It's City Hall.
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