Newsmaker: Karen Hunt
This week's Newsmaker is councillor Karen Hunt, who has played a key role in the Raising the Bar initiative and is a member of Inner City Focus group.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
Greg and I made Rotorua our home 22 years ago and raised our two adult daughters here.
I spent six years involved with the Rotorua Arts Village and helped with the creation of the mosaic floor. This ignited my passion for the Rotorua community and reinforced my strong interest in city art.
I was elected onto the Rotorua District Council in 2007. Since then I have trained as a commissioner under the Resource Management Act and also now chair the newly formed District Licensing Committee.
Tell us a bit about your role with Raising the Bar?
For me this is a part of my role as the Inner City Revitalisation Portfolio Lead and as a member of the Inner City Focus group. I love working in this group to brainstorm ideas, plan workshops and other events to inspire positive change.
Ray McVinnie's involvement has stimulated some great discussions about the potential opportunities we have as a city. More recently our talented local speakers demonstrated they are more than willing to share their knowledge and skills.
What motivated you to get involved?
Every conversation about what the inner city needed eventually led to a discussion around service levels.
A like-minded group was established and I am now very fortunate to be working with a passionate group of people, all leaders in their own fields, who are committed to doing whatever it takes to help raise service levels here in Rotorua.
No matter what business you are in you are constantly measured by the service your customers experience. As a city it's about needing to do our best every day.
What do you love about your job?
Making a difference and collaborating with a wide variety of people about a wide range of issues.
I feel very excited about the re-creation of the inner city. A lot of residents care deeply about our city and it is their energy and their vision that makes my job so rewarding.
The Rotorua 2030 vision has opened up a whole new way of working together and we are beginning to see and feel the difference this has made over the past nine months.
What do you do in your free time?
I have been a keen mountain biker since we moved to Rotorua, grade 3/4 trails mostly.
I regularly practice Iyengar Yoga and have done so for the past 19 years. I read, walk, ski and love fishing. I am a passionate foodie, enjoy being in my garden, when I get time as well as exploring new places.
What's your favourite thing about Rotorua?
I love that in Rotorua everyone has the opportunity to get involved and contribute to the city.
I love that we are 15 minutes from almost any activity you could name and many of these are free. I believe we live in the best natural playground in the country.
Tell us three things about yourself that most people wouldn't know?
I trained as a Registered Nurse at Greenlane Hospital.
I love flying and have enjoyed aerobatics and skydiving.
While I have a medical background, I am a strong believer in a healthy diet, natural remedies and positive thinking.