After 14 years of dedication to his community as head of Council, Killarney-Turtle Mountain's Rick Pauls is stepping down as mayor.  Pauls will be turning the page to a new chapter of his career through a new opportunity in the banking industry.

Staying on council as Mayor was a conflict of interest, however other factors played a part in his decision.  "The company perceived it as a conflict of interest but to do another full-time job on top of the other ones that I have, to be honest, something had to give," he explains, "and I definitely felt that it was time to step down from Council."

Though this new opportunity is taking Pauls in a new direction, he will remain owner of Killarney's Blarney Stone Restaurant with day-to-day operations being taken care of by his managers.  "I'll still retain ownership, I'll still stay in the community and I'll still stay involved in the community, just not in the role as Mayor."

Prior to his 14 years in the Mayor's chair, Pauls spent one term around the council table as councillor.  "I'm the longest serving mayor this community has ever had and it has truly been an honour," he shares. "The first time I won the election it was a bit of a shock.  The second election, it was a little clearer picture, I won by a large majority, and the last two times I won by acclamation. So, I definitely feel that the community support has been a large part of the direction that we've gone."

"We've accomplished a lot of things and I think that we started moving the community in the right direction and we've seen some terrific growth.  We've seen some large projects going.  We've seen our reserve accounts now to a point where I think we're set up fairly well for the future - not saying that there aren't some significant challenges ahead because, quite frankly, there are."

"But, anybody who's ever been on Council, especially Head of Council, they will know that a lot of times there is a lot of stress involved, there really is," shares Pauls, "and it's time for somebody else to take on that role."

Deputy Mayor, Janice Smith, will assume the position as Head of Council until an election takes place in early 2021.