Mayor defends hobby suggestions for councillors

Celia Wade-Brown. Photo / APN

Wellington City mayor Celia Wade-Brown has defended a leaked email which suggests councillors learn Te Reo, Mandarin or ballroom dancing in order to keep "mentally fit".

In the email, leaked to media and bloggers over the weekend, Ms Wade-Brown told councillors her intentions to discuss training and personal development when the council next sits.

"I hope some courses on chairing, speed-reading, engagement and participatory democracy, new media or the RMA will appeal," she wrote.

"Or we can take new lessons in Te Reo, Mandarin or ballroom dancing - all exercise neural pathways and keep us mentally fit."

Ms Wade-Brown linked to two online articles about how physical activity improves mental fitness.

"... If you didn't think it was relevant to your role ... 'Those with more connectivity ... also tend to be better at planning, prioritizing, strategizing and multi-tasking.' - that's what we have to do - and preferably enjoy doing it!" she wrote.

While the email has attracted criticism from some councillors and from bloggers, councillor Leonie Gill, who was singled out in the email for her smoking habit, did not take any offence to what Ms Wade-Brown had written.

"She hadn't realised I've already taken up some hobbies recently. I've taken up embroidery and I've taken up handcraft again," she said, adding she can already speed-read.

"I just didn't take much notice of it."

In the email, Ms Wade-Brown quoted research which found nicotine has "'significant positive effects' on fine motor skills, the accuracy of short-term memory, some forms of attention, and working memory, among other basic cognitive skills". The quote was "for Leonie in particular".

"The reason is that nicotine binds to the brain receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that are central players in cortical circuits. (Caveat: smoking also increases your risk of dementia, so while cigarettes may boost your memory and attention now, you could pay for it later.) but I'm not taking it up again - shortness of breath, coughing, lung or throat cancer and most of all, the smell..." Ms Wade-Brown wrote.

Ms Gill said she had spoken to mayor about the email.

"The smoking thing could have been read two ways - she didn't realised that.

"I smoke less than I've ever smoked anyway," she said. "It's been something I've cut back on since a health scare a few years ago."

Ms Wade-Brown defended the content of the email.

"Wellington is facing some complex issues, whether it is rates levels, leaky buildings or transport and urban form. We all need to be good at prioritising and strategising - and I think some people aren't particularly fast with reading their papers from some of the discussions around the table," she told Radio New Zealand.

"I think some of them certainly need to upgrade their thinking skills and their speed reading and it was an early New Year think about how your skills are, do you need to improve them."

Ms Wade-Brown was surprised the email had been leaked by a councillor.

"It doesn't matter that that was leaked, because it was meant as a communication that I don't mind if anyone reads. It gives me opportunity to say that, here we are, a new council, let's have some new thinking," she said. "But councillors are going to leak that, what private ratepayers' issues are they going to leak?"

The mayor stressed the courses would not be ratepayer funded and would be done in the councillors' own time.