Hunter Larkin steps down as Goddard mayor amid questions about developer influence

Hunter Larkin resigned as mayor of Goddard on Monday after ethics questions were raised about his relationship with developers who have worked around contribution limits to bolster his campaign while actively doing business with City Hall.

Larkin, 23, who is running for a seat in the state Legislature, resigned three days after a Wichita Eagle opinion column about the campaign contributions.

“I would like to make a statement in regards to this last weekend’s news article,” Larkin addressed the city council at Monday evening’s meeting. “I believe it’s important for me to recognize that even though, you know, it’s hard to tame the political animal, the political beast sometimes, public perception is important.

“I believe the people of Goddard need to know where my heart is and that I have the best interest of them in mind . . . And so, as of right now — just temporarily — I plan on stepping down as mayor and handing it over to Larry Zimmerman, our vice mayor.”

Larkin then stood up from the bench and exited the meeting, prompting a brief moment of confusion about whether his intention was to resign or merely to take a leave of absence. Larkin did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Zimmerman clarified that Larkin was resigning as mayor, and the four other council members voted to accept the resignation. Larkin’s city council term is not set to expire until 2024, and removing him from the council would take a recall vote ballot initiative.

The Eagle reported that Larkin received $2,000 in bundled contributions — gifts from multiple individuals and limited liability companies controlled by essentially the same people and used to circumvent the state’s $500 donation limit — from homebuilder Bryan Langaly and partners who are developing a 200+ home and duplex complex on the west side of Goddard.

Larkin got another $4,000 in bundled contributions from Individuals and LLCs associated with the Dugan family, landowners who were selling the property for the development to Langaly and who own the company where Larkin works as an accountant.

Last October, Larkin pressed city staff to fast-track consideration of Langaly’s request for $300,000 in public money toward a $600,00 pumping station to tie the $60 million project to the town sewage system.

Larkin has dismissed claims of impropriety as baseless and politically motivated.

“This city has always been an open book, and we’ve always made it our priority to be as transparent as possible toward anybody that had any questions about any of our dealings,” Zimmerman said Monday after Larkin left the meeting.

Zimmerman, a retired mechanic who was first elected to the council in 1999 and has served a stint as mayor previously, declined to weigh in on Larkin’s conduct as mayor.

“Some people can say his intentions when he was on the mayorship were not good and some could say they can’t find a fault that would cause a legal issue,” Zimmerman said. “It’s how the public views it and how the public perceives the rest of the council as having sided with him for that when it’s a majority vote for all things.

“We’re trying to pull together and we’re trying to get through the bad publicity of any publicity that came our way and trying to show people that Goddard is a desirable place,” Zimmerman said.

Negative public attention is not entirely new for Larkin, who was arrested last November on suspicion of a DUI. The Sedgwick County district attorney’s office is prosecuting, and Larkin’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 15.

During the citizen comment portion of Monday’s meeting, no one addressed Larkin’s resignation. The only speaker was Jamey Blubaugh, the former Goddard mayor who resigned in 2020 after he was caught counterfeiting tickets for the Sedgwick County Zoo’s Zoobilee fundraiser.

Blubaugh announced to the council that he has received approval from the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department to move forward with the construction of an establishment he’s calling Mr. B’s Daylight Donuts.