By Jennifer McIlroy: 7 November 2013

TUI LEWIS felt like she was back at school last week.     

The new councillor attended a two day induction course to learn how to cross her t’s and dot her i’s for the next three years.

Mrs Lewis was previously on the Petone Community Board, before being elected into her new role – beating out previous councillor Ross Jamieson.

“I was both ecstatic and pleasantly surprised,” she said.

Communication is the main focus for Mrs Lewis, who said she wants to establish better relationships between council and the community.

Mrs Lewis said she also wants to communicate with new residents moving into the Harbour Ward area, which includes Eastbourne as well as Petone.

“Eastbourne people are different from Petone people historically, but there is a generation in there that is new, like the 35 to 45 age bracket.”

“They all have ideas, it is about getting them up to par about what is going on in the area and to get input from them,” she said.

As a councilor, Mrs Lewis told Newswire she wants to see more people getting involved in the consulting process and submitting their ideas to council.

“The more ideas on the table and more people involved in the process the better,” she said.

The new councillor said the structure of a city is based on council’s ideas, which is why she wants the younger generation to start thinking about what their city is going to look like when they are older.

“Younger people should start taking some ownership I suppose, and say what they would like to see in their city,” she said.

Jennifer McIlroy is is a Whitireia journalism student