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Described as a ‘political takeover,’ 23-year-old GOPer reseated as mayor in ‘sleazy’ move [1]
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Date: 2023-01-23
His Kansas statehouse campaign website reads: “This campaign is about giving a voice to the people of our community and defending what so many of us hold dear, like voter integrity, the right to bear arms, protecting the unborn and keeping Critical Race Theory (CRT) out of schools.”
We have to ask: Was CRT really a big issue in Goddard, Kansas, schools? Nevertheless, it’s a main focal point of his campaign! It’s a Fox Newsificiation of local issues: Finding “solutions” for non-existent problems while ignoring real quality-of-life issues, like the fact that aquifers in Kansas are drying up.
After Larkin’s departure, Vice-Mayor Larry Zimmerman was appointed and has served as Goddard’s mayor since. Then on Jan. 17, Larkin pulled a fast one.
As Aubrey Collins was being seated as a councilperson, Larkin moved to amend the agenda and “hold a non-public executive session to discuss ‘unelected personnel,’” The Daily Beast’s Justin Rohrlich writes.
And just like that, the game of musical chairs began in what seemed like an orchestrated series of votes that once again put Larkin in the Mayor’s seat.
The council first voted to remove Zimmerman as mayor. Then they voted to make Sarah Leland mayor. She took the gavel, and she swiftly told those assembled she didn’t feel she had “the capability to do these job duties… especially the current situation we are dealing with, so I would like to nominate Hunter, as I feel he can complete the steps that need taking.” And just like that, Larkin was re-crowned mayor of Goddard.
Zimmerman resigned from the city council on the spot.
“The day and age where unelected bureaucrats ran this town is over,” Larkin reportedly said. “This governing body is going to be more involved than ever before.” Which, as we know, is totally in keeping with Republican complaints about “big government.”
Jeffery Jones, who was nominated for city council but lost in a tie, told The Daily Beast, “Hunter said, ‘We’re tired of being run by unelected bureaucrats,’ but I’m like, ‘Well, you’re kind of unelected.’ He was elected as a council member, no one voted him in as mayor [either time]. And right now, there’s a petition out for a recall.”
The town of just over 5,000 residents is outraged. So much so that there’s a recall campaign to get Larkin out, and a Facebook group called “For Goddard’s Sake.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/23/2148865/-23-year-old-Kansas-right-winger-successfully-pulls-a-Trump-move-steals-election-to-re-win-seat
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