Employee Engagement for the Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan Continues Aug. 28 – Sept. 13
Employees who opted-in to Identity-Based Affinity Spaces should have received a calendar invite for their Affinity Space’s second meeting, which are scheduled to take place between Aug. 28 – Sept. 13. Please check your email to ensure you’ve received this calendar invite and seek time approval from your supervisor.
Effectively engaging King County employees is a key part of refreshing the Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan. Earlier this year, employees opted-in to Identity-Based Affinity Spaces, one of the ways the Refresh project will engage with employees. In these meetings, employees will provide information and ideas on how King County can improve its workplace culture, increase equity in workforce practices, and ensure a sense of belonging for all employees. These meetings have been created specifically for this refresh project so employees can gather face-to-face in shared identity spaces and speak openly.
Learn more on the ESJ Strategic Plan Refresh Sharepoint Site.
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Participate in survey to improve the Customer Experience
The Customer Experience (CX) Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from departments across the county, has developed a survey to learn more about how we are delivering customer service across the enterprise. If customer service, whether external or internal, is a component of your work, please participate in the survey. It takes 10-15 minutes to complete and will be open until Aug. 25. To access the survey, click here.
With your participation, we will be able to gain a robust understanding of services we provide to customers, ways we interact with customers, and how we request feedback from customers. This information will be used to build a countywide strategy for providing an exemplary Customer Experience across the enterprise in support of one of the Executive Branch values, “We focus on the customer.” For more information or questions, contact Brittany Carter, Enterprise CX Lead in the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget.
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Caroline Whalen retires after 29 years at King County
Caroline Whalen, director of the Department of Executive Services since 2010, retires next month after 29 years at King County. Her last day in the office will be Sept. 8.
“Working for King County was the best career decision I’ve made,” Whalen said.
During her county career, she has written land use code, organized massive rezone mailings along with an associated call center, analyzed legislation, and served as a lead staff for the County Council. She worked her way up to deputy director in the former Department of Development and Environmental Services, then joined DES as deputy director in 2002 before becoming director in 2010. Read more.
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King County Metro’s largest union approves 3-year labor contract with higher salaries and expanded training opportunities
King County Metro and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 have finalized a three-year labor contract that increases wages by approximately 17 percent over the life of the contract. The agreement also includes a lump sum retroactive payment, a retention bonus of $2,500, and a one-time $2,500 ratification signing bonus. The contract shortens the pay step progression and vacation accrual time for part-time transit operators, aligning it with the current policies for full-time employees.
Negotiations on the contract started in May 2022, with the parties reaching a tentative agreement this June. The ATU members ratified the contract on Aug. 15. Read more in the official press release.
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$1.2 million in narcotics blocked by Shoreline Police and King County Sheriff’s Office – keeping nearly 300,000 fentanyl pills off the street
Nearly 300,000 fentanyl pills and other narcotics are out of the hands of a narcotics trafficker thanks to the diligent work of the King County Sheriff’s Office, which recently conducted an operation to stop the dangerous drug from hitting the street. The amount of fentanyl seized is enough to cause more than two million lethal doses and is one of the Sheriff’s Office largest seizures ever.
Operation “Jade” took place on Thursday, Aug. 3, and was led by the Shoreline Police Special Emphasis Team (SET) and assisted by Precinct 4 SET and Narcotics Detection K9 Quinn. The operation targeted a narcotics trafficker suspected of distributing large amounts of fentanyl and other substances in the cities of Shoreline, Burien, White Center, and Seattle. Read more.
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Aerial rescue success on the Pacific Crest Trail
Crossposted from the KCSO newsletter
On Wednesday, Aug. 2, the King County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a call from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. They had received an alert from a Garmin inReach device – a personal satellite transmitter/receiver – about an injured hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail near Mt. Adams.
Pilot Deputy Josh Sweeney, Co-Pilot Tony Mullinax, Safety Officer Sergeant Eric Gagnon, Rescue Specialists Deputy Travis Brunner and Sergeant Tim Lewis, and King County Medic Rosenblum responded immediately. Guardian 2 was on its way to the hikers’ location within two hours, and they captured some fantastic views along the way.
The Air Support Unit (ASU) team swiftly located the hiker, who had been making their way from Southern California toward Canada before getting injured. They were transported to the Yakima Airport where AMR was waiting to transport the patient, whose injuries were more severe than originally thought.
This mission saved hours of work for volunteers and helped get a community member to care more quickly than if it’d been a ground rescue. The team did a fantastic job thinking on their feet and solving problems as always. Fantastic work by everyone involved!
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King County Security Tips – Post-its are not for passwords
Do you keep a login and password written down on a Post-it or piece of paper near your desk? If so, you should get rid of it by following your company’s sensitive document disposal policy. If your company does not have such a policy, you should use a paper shredder to dispose of the Post-it. Do not simply place the Post-it in the trash.
While it may be tough to remember a login and password for all of the sites and portals you belong to, writing the passwords down on a piece of paper, or keeping them in an unsecured document on your computer, is a bad habit to have. This can put you and King County at risk.
Try to use passwords that are easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess.
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Surface Water Management Fee discount for families with low incomes – Apply by Sept. 15, 2023
If you qualify as a low-income household and live on your own property in unincorporated King County, you may be eligible for a 50 percent discount on the annual surface water management fee on your land parcel(s).
Residents approved for the King County Senior Citizen and People with Disabilities Reduction in Property Taxes are already approved for this discount and do not need to apply.
The open period to apply is every year from Aug. 1 through Sept. 15. Learn more about the fee discount at www.kingcounty.gov/swmfeediscount, call 206-477-4800, or email
wlrdswm@kingcounty.gov. Information about the discount is available online in English, Español | 한국어 | Af-Soomaali | русский | 中文 | Tiếng Việt (Spanish, Korean, Somali, Russian, Chinese and Vietnamese).
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2024 Professional Development Scholarship applications to open Sept. 6
What could up to $3,000 do for your career? The first application period for the 2024 Coalition Labor Agreement Professional Development Scholarship is rapidly approaching, and now is the time to identify training opportunities to help you reach your career goals. In conjunction with the Coalition of Unions, the Professional Development Scholarship Program will be accepting applications Sept. 6 – Oct. 8, 2023, for training that will begin anytime between January – June 2024. The application process is changing so please periodically check the scholarship website and the Employee News for updates on how to apply.
The scholarship is designed to assist King County employees represented by the Coalition with their professional development by providing financial assistance to help obtain training, certificates, degrees, licenses, and certifications related to work performed at King County.
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Now Recruiting 2023 Employee Giving Program Ambassadors
Crossposted from KC Employee Giving
Bring a little inspiration to your day and build connection with your team by signing up to be an Ambassador.
The Employee Giving Program is now recruiting King County Employees to serve as an Ambassadors for this year’s Annual Giving Drive to their work groups/sites.
As an Ambassador, you are the heart and soul of our Employee Giving Program team. We can NOT run this program and support so many great causes without you. Last year that resulted in $2.39 million! You are the key to making sure that every King County employee has the chance to connect to a cause they care about through the program. Read more.
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