The Saskatchwewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) will be witnessing a change of leadership after president Ray Orb announced he will be stepping down at the end of the month.
Vice-president William Huber will take over as president until the next election in 2025. Orb was first elected to the SARM board in 2004 and said the decision not to finish out his term comes a desire to start experiencing life in a different way.
“After 20 years of proudly serving SARM, the timing just feels right and also to enough time to spend with my family and grandchildren too,” Orb said on Tuesday.
“It has been an interesting time. We’ve gone through a lot of challenges.”
Orb said flooding and drought across the province have been significant challenges SARM has had to overcome in the past 20 years. He’s particularly proud of the organization’s commitment to reducing the education tax on farm land, a policy the organization advocated for over a number of years, and convinced the provincial government to adopt in 2007.
Orb had originally announced in March he wouldn’t seek re-election, but decided to speed up the process.
“The transition has gone so smoothly that there wasn’t any real reason to delay stepping down,” he said.
The (SARM) confirmed that Orb would be stepping down from his role as President at the end of August 2024. Orb said he’s confident the organization is in good hands with Huber.
“We have had a good relationship with the people and also with worked very well with both the provincial and federal government,” said Orb.
“My passions in life are people, rural Saskatchewan, and farming,” said Huber, “so I couldn’t be more honoured to step into this acting position. Having held the role of vice president for the last four years, I know first-hand what a great leader Ray Orb is and how significant his contributions have been. It’s my privilege to continue that work.”
The official search for an elected President will begin in January 2025 and conclude with an election during the SARM Annual Convention in March 2025. All nominees for President must be elected officials in a rural municipality. Until then,Huber said he is confident stepping into the role and is looking forward to the challenge.
Orb is looking back on his time with SARM and forward to the next chapter with immense gratitude.
“It’s been a tremendous privilege to listen to and learn from all the people I’ve worked with and represented,” he said. “That strength of community and pride in rural Saskatchewan is something I took with me everywhere I went. That’s something that will never change.”
