Mayor Celia-Wade Brown studied te reo, French, speed reading, scuba diving, dived in the Wellington harbour, and took ballroom dancing lessons - when she was 11.
“I was hopeless,” she says laughing.
Now, she is suggesting to Wellington City Councillors that they take up additional activities to “exercise neural pathways”.
In an email, sent to all city councillors and chief executive Gary Poole on January 6, she suggested councillors should learn to speed read and take up te reo, or ballroom dancing.
She cited a study as evidence that “those with more connectivity also tend to be better at planning, prioritising, strategising and multi-tasking.
“It’s not about whether councillors can speed read or not – those are things they can address themselves and it is not saying that some of them are not doing these things anyway. I suggested councillors learn new skills to exercise neural pathways. Now is a good time to think about training needs,” she says.
Important issues for councillors will arise in the future, such as leaky buildings and transport issues, and Wade-Brown believes investing in ‘extra-curricular’ activities will help when confronting these issues.
Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon laughs and says the council’s focus will not be on ball-room dancing.
“I belong to the generation when we would combine with the local girls’ college and were taught all sorts of dancing at school. I don’t think I need to get involved in that now,” he says laughing. “I had boxing lessons too.”
“Celia enjoys being kept up-to-date with processes and the latest thinking on the edge and she likes showing other people. Broadening the base of people’s thinking is what she enjoys.”
Te Reo teacher Paratai Tai Rakene says learning another language opened her up to a lot of things she didn’t know before. Tai Rakene is a teacher for national te reo teaching facility Te Putahi o Te Ataarangi, which believes in offering students “total immersion” in te reo.
“You get a greater holistic view of the Maori world and how it relates to the environment and animals and land. It’s about giving people a different perspective - as you look at things differently. It’s not just a language but an overall idea of a culture and where you are.”
Green MP Gareth Hughes plans to jump off the waterfront this Sunday to practice using his neural pathways.
“I saw her email and there were lots of things she was talking about – speed reading – not, jumping off a wharf but many things can be good for you.
“Actually Celia dived into the harbour just after she became mayor to help clean-up the bottom of the harbour floor,” he says.
Launching himself off the wharf, dressed as Evel Knievel, Hughes says he welcomes “a bit of danger.”
Perhaps other councillors will join him at the 350 Birdman festival at Taranaki Wharf this Sunday?