Mayor Ashleigh Aitken in an open letter published Friday to Angels owner Arte Moreno outlined her key starting points for future stadium deals that would benefit the team, city and residents alike, saying she wants to build a working relationship that doesn’t exist yet with ownership.

“My relationship as mayor with Angels ownership is the source of a lot of speculation,” Aitken wrote. “But, honestly, we don’t really have one. I want to change that for the better.”

The letter, released on the same day as the team’s home opener, serves as a new start for the team and the city to hopefully begin stadium negotiations.

In the letter, Aitken writes that she doesn’t want to quibble over vague 30-year-old terms in the current stadium lease that have led to hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in legal fees. “I am not interested in litigating the past.”

Aitken, instead, said she wants to talk about the future of the Angels in Anaheim and pointed to other major deals the city has made in recent years with Disney and OCVibe.

“Other major Anaheim corporate stakeholders have already shown a way forward, working with the city on terms that benefit everyone — our stakeholders and residents alike,” Aitken wrote. “I know the Angels would like to do the same.”

Aitken listed eight key starting points for conversations about the future of baseball in Anaheim. Included are:

• Establishing trust through a straightforward, good-faith relationship
• Full access to the stadium for inspections
• Navigating requirements under the Surplus Land Act, the state law that says public land being sold should be prioritized for the development of affordable housing
• Provide regular updates to the community on stadium negotiations
• Conduct community outreach and hold surveys to understand what residents envision for the stadium property
• Committing to having a local workforce through a community work agreement for long-term staffing at the stadium and completing any stadium improvements.
• Investment into Anaheim’s schools, parks, workforce training, affordable housing and open space
• Acknowledge “ANAHEIM” prominently as the team’s location and partner

The team has shown no interest in returning to its Anaheim name after becoming the Los Angeles Angels in 2016.

“That’s extremely important,” Aitken said in an interview. “We cannot ask the taxpayers of Anaheim to negotiate and support a team that doesn’t include its name in it.”

Responding to Aitken’s letter, Angels spokesperson Marie Garvey said, “We appreciate Mayor Aitken’s letter and the desire to strengthen the relationship between the city and Angels Baseball. We look forward to Opening Day at the Big A and the future of Angels Baseball in Anaheim.”

The Angels play the Cleveland Guardians on Friday in their home opener.

Aitken said a new stadium deal could bring community benefits like funding for affordable housing and new open space.

“We are not generating any tax revenue from a stagnant parking lot,” Aitken said. “There’s an opportunity there that could benefit both the Angels and city of Anaheim.”

The open letter comes a week after a state audit found Anaheim hasn’t been able to ensure the city-owned Angel stadium has been properly maintained, likely needing hundreds of millions of dollars in work, and gave recommendations for what a future deal with the team should include.

The day after the audit’s release, Anaheim’s former mayor, Harry Sidhu, was sentenced to two months in prison after admitting to leaking confidential information to a consultant working for the Angels to help the team purchase the stadium on more favorable terms.

Unmentioned in Aitken’s bullet points is a major disagreement between the Angels and Anaheim over the maintenance money the team has put into the stadium over the last 29 years. The Angels say that the excess $35.6 million, and growing, they have contributed to the stadium’s capital reserved fund for annual improvements must be repaid to them by the city once the lease is up.

The city has disputed that as a meritless claim. That disagreement also must be ironed out in future stadium talks to avoid litigation, according to the state audit. Aitken said she believes the city can work through that issue with the team.

That previous sales deal would have seen the Angels buying the 151-acre stadium property for $320 million and developing the parking lots around the stadium with housing, offices and retail. Whether the stadium would be renovated or replaced was never said before the City Council canceled the deal.

Aitken, elected in 2022, said she’s hopes stadium talks get underway as soon as possible. She said “There’s a lot of blame to go around with former council members and (the) former mayor. At this point, we need to move forward. I would like to see that happen my tenure.”

There are no current talks between the city and the team on the long-term future of the stadium. Moreno told MLB.com in February that he’s not willing to invest “$200 or $300 million into a stadium that a city owns without any of their participation.”

“Maybe we’ll get a new mayor and council that want us to stay,” Moreno said.

Aitken said Moreno has not said that to her directly and declined to comment on what he said.

The Angels in February extended their stadium lease to play baseball at Angel Stadium through at least 2032.

The team’s spokesperson then said, “As we prepare for our 60th season in Anaheim, we wanted our fans and community partners to know that Angels Baseball and its foundation remain committed to being an active part of this city and region.”