Goddard Mayor Hunter Larkin says he will not seek re-election to City Council in 2023

Embattled Goddard Mayor Hunter Larkin says he will not seek re-election to the City Council in 2023 as criticism mounts over his abrupt re-appointment as mayor in January.

“I’m not going to run for re-election. This will be my last term on the Goddard City Council. I believe in term limits,” Larkin told members of the Goddard Chamber of Commerce at a Thursday luncheon, The Times-Sentinel first reported.

Larkin was elected to the City Council in 2019 with 189 votes. His term will expire in January 2024.

“Glad to hear it,” For Goddard’s Sake organizer Liz Hamor said of Larkin’s announcement. “That doesn’t change anything with our group’s intentions to carry out the will of the community through pursuing a recall, though.”

The community group is still collecting signatures and coordinating with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, which will ultimately determine if there are sufficient grounds for a recall vote.

During nearly an hour of public comment during Monday’s City Council meeting, Goddard citizens overwhelmingly expressed their frustration, anger and disgust, with many people telling the 24-year-old mayor he should resign.

Larkin faced particularly harsh criticism for his role in firing Brian Silcott, who had served as the city’s administrator for 19 years. At a January meeting, Larkin and his allies removed Larry Zimmerman as mayor, replacing him with Larkin before terminating Silcott. Zimmerman resigned his council seat rather than participate in the firing, and the assistant city administrator resigned the following day.

“Goddard Mayor Hunter Larkin along with City Council member Sarah Leland saw the need to totally destroy what took over 20 years to build,” Zimmerman said, addressing the council during Monday’s public forum.

“I think the consensus was really that this change needed to happen,” Larkin said of the decision to fire Silcott after the meeting. “And however you unpackage that, the people want a transparent government that is going to be accountable to them.”

Larkin previously resigned as mayor last May amid ethical concerns about his relationship with local developers, who worked around contribution limits to bolster his 2022 Statehouse campaign while actively doing business with City Hall. Larkin got his name removed from the ballot before the Republican primary in August.

This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 10:08 AM.