Killarney-Turtle Mountain mayor resigns position

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This article was published 22/12/2020 (1720 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain will have to find a new mayor.

Longtime Mayor Rick Pauls confirmed to the Sun on Monday that he submitted his letter of resignation as of Dec. 19.

He said he was leaving after 13 and a half years as mayor and two years into the current term to take on a new job opportunity starting in early January.

“All things COVID have changed a lot of things, and I was presented with a job offer I have decided to take that would no longer allow me to operate in my capacity as mayor,” he said.

He said he couldn’t say what his new job was, but he will be remaining in Killarney and maintain ownership of his business, the Blarney Stone Pub and Restaurant.

The municipal council will have to decide what to do about Pauls’ resignation at their first meeting of the new year on Jan. 13.

Among his favourite accomplishments as mayor are the completion of the Shamrock Centre facility, the construction of a new water treatment plant, the building of a new fire hall and the opening of new residential and commercial developments.

“It’s just an honour to be in that position,” he said. “For the most part, I’ve enjoyed absolutely everything. It’s definitely a challenge to be an elected official, especially these days with everything that’s going on. My favourite part would probably be some of the fun things that you get to do, participating in grand openings and parades. Those are usually the things I look back on with fondness.”

He said that in his decade-plus in municipal politics, he has never faced a problem like COVID-19 has presented this year.

“I think the challenge is, when you take a look at municipal elected officials, they’re not only dealing with things on the municipal side with the pandemic, they’re also dealing with things on the business side, the personal side and everything like that,” he said. “This year was a year that I hope to forget someday. Probably never will. I’m a restaurant owner, I’m a landlord. There’ve been a lot of pressures this year on everything, and then you add the mayor duties and some of the tough decisions you have to make.”

Pauls made headlines in 2013 when he crossed party lines to protest the Conservative Party’s chosen candidate for the Brandon-Souris riding.

At that time he told the Sun he was unhappy with the way Larry Maguire had been nominated as outgoing MP Merv Tweed’s successor in the nomination race for the party.

Trying to prevent a Conservative win in the riding, Pauls first declared as an independent before announcing his candidacy for the Liberal Party of Canada nomination.

Ultimately, he lost the nomination to Rolf Dinsdale, who ended up losing to Maguire by less than 400 votes in the byelection.

Though he isn’t from Killarney, Pauls said he has lived there for the last 25 years and considers it his adopted home.

“The community welcomed me and gave me one of the greatest honours anyone in Killarney could ever have.”

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