When Bad Men Combine……

Diane Larkin made her first debut to public office in March 2003 when she was elected as a Fish Lake Township supervisor on a stealth campaign. In a township where apathy was the political norm, no one came forth to declare their candidacy for the Fish Lake town board position in 2003. Larkin cleverly waged a behind-the-scenes write-in campaign and easily became the first woman elected to the Fish Lake town board.

After serving three years in office, Supervisor Larkin became known as a woman who stirred controversy, angered and mislead township residents, and made unethical, arbitrary and capricious decisions. Larkin was most notorious for being the first local area resident to develop a portion of her farmland into two small residential lots, then working hand-in-hand with a developer to subdivide 80 acres of adjoining property into what is now called “Prairie Fields.” The developer rewarded Supervisor Larkin by providing a paved access road to connect to her residential lots. As a result of her controversial actions and decisions, Supervisor Larkin was the target of the first formal written complaint ever served upon Fish Lake Township. Soon after, Supervisor Bob Cupit resigned his town board position. Supervisor/Board Chair Larkin quickly replaced Cupit by appointing her long-time friend and political ally Bob Carter to complete Cupit’s remaining 3 month term until the next election. By 2006, a backlash of public outrage unseated incumbent Larkin in an unprecedented election loss to newcomer Tim O’Keefe.

By 2009 township election time, apathy and ignorance once again reigned in Fish Lake Township. Larkin narrowly defeated incumbent O’Keefe 41 to 34, garnering the lowest voter turnout in recent years. In a township of approximately 1723 residents and 1200 registered voters, Larkin was re-elected on March 10th by 0.03% of the voters. After simmering on the side-lines for three years, Diane Larkin has returned to re-join forces with Supervisor/Board Chair Bob Carter.

On this St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps a famous quote by Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke best describes the tumultuous future of Fish Lake Township;

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Edmund Burke 1770