There’s nothing like an old-fashioned Lunch and Learn session for comradery, sharing ideas and learning what your colleagues have been up to. Unless it comes during a pandemic where everyone is working from home and lunch is maybe a can of soup. Despite the lack of in-person interaction, the Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) has made a success of their Lunch and Learn series on their equity and social justice programs.  

WLRD, affectionately referred to as “Willard” and a division of the Department and Natural Resources and Parks, launched this series in April to spotlight equity and social justice (ESJ) programs and projects within the division.

“The events provide an opportunity to share successful ESJ work and ideas for operationalizing ESJ while building change agent capacity and community to sustain the ESJ effort,” said Janet Credo, an ESJ lead in WLRD.

The ideas for improving ESJ standards within the agency range from the creative to the practical, such as the ESJ Hiring Best Practices Guide developed by the River and Floodplain Management Section to the 1% for ESJ pilot project in the Wastewater Treatment Division.    

One program that has had great success is the ESJ Engineer Training Internship Program. According to Claire Jonson, Senior Engineer in WLRD, who serves as the facilitator of these Lunch and Learns, they were able to fund long-term internships lasting up to two years. Although the pandemic temporarily paused the program in spring 2021, staff and interns were able to adapt in a work-from-home environment by May 2020.

“The program boasts a 100% success rate of all interns finding full-time employment in the field of engineering after graduation, including with King County. We consider that a huge success,” she said.

Besides the increased diverse recruitment focus, there are other ongoing programs and those in development geared toward education and information.

“We’re creating a network of ESJ change leaders across the agency,” Janet said. “And we plan to continue to provide these opportunities to showcase uplifiting, exciting and innovative ideas that will continue our mission of moving toward an equity- and socially-just organization.”  

We’re tops in tech! King County has been named the nation’s #1 Top Digital County by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. The group surveys public IT departments around the country annually for effectiveness.

This year, technology played a vital role fighting the pandemic as a rapid digital transformation from King County Information Technology’s (KCIT) and IT leaders around the County helped keep people safer. “It was…one of the best examples in the survey of both recovery from and response to the pandemic,” said the Digital County judges.

“It’s about digital transformation and merging the physical and digital spaces,” said Tanya Hannah, Chief Information Officer for King County and Director of KCIT. “If COVID taught us anything, it’s that people want to connect with government wherever and whenever, using whatever technology they have available.”

Here’s a small sample of how King County leveraged technology to better serve the employees and the public:

• Better collaboration and productivity. The County moved from Skype to a more stable, collaborative communications platform, Teams. This has allowed onsite, mobile or teleworking employees increase collaboration and better productivity of teams using features like IM / chat, meeting and provides a one-stop” location for SharePoint, OneNote and Office tools. A whiteboard feature will soon be available!
• Improving employee experience. The Business Resource Center rolled out a more efficient travel and expense tool, Concur. This tool allows employees to electronically submit receipts, seek reimbursements and schedule travel. In addition, new capabilities were introduced such as the ability to use any mobile device to update personal information and benefit enrollment choices.
• Future of Work. KCIT developed a Future of Work site to support employees in whatever way they may be working, including fully remote, hybrid or in-person. Conference room technology updates, and County facilities updates support new ways of working, including hot-desking/hotel style reservations for employees working in a hybrid model.
• No-contact virtual services. King County residents can now access a number of online services such as Zoom for Telehealth; video conferencing for jury selection and witness testimony; and virtual plumbing permitting inspections.
• Paperless transactions. More than 92% of King County’s paper permits moved online.
• Senior Tax Exemption. Seniors, veterans or disabled homeowners can check if they’re eligible for property tax breaks easily online, which improves tax equity.

Congratulations to KCIT and fellow King County employees whose hard work and innovation are reflected in this award!

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recommends youth engage in 60 minutes of physical activity a day, yet in King County, only 19% of youth meet these recommendations. Many barriers such as rising costs, limited transportation options, along with policies and practices result in inequities of access to physical activity disproportionately impacting youth of color, youth living in poverty, and immigrant and refugee youth. King County Parks’ Youth Sports Grants aim to invest in programs and capital projects that will reduce barriers youth face to participating in physical activity.

These Youth Sports Grants have supported programs as diverse as All Girl Everything Ultimate Program (AGE UP), which partners with schools in south Seattle to provide no cost ultimate frisbee to youth of color, Cham Refugee Community providing sports and recreation opportunities to youth of Cham and East African descent, and Baseball Beyond Borders, which mentors and develops young black athlete leaders by instilling baseball fundamentals.

King County employee volunteers make it possible

The process of evaluating applications to inform how the County invests public funding is made stronger through the participation of many County employees who volunteer their time to review applications by serving as evaluators. 

“We really appreciate the expertise and lived experiences they bring to the process to inform how King County Parks invests in the community,” said Sarah Margeson, Program Manager. “Their input is vital to supporting more equitable access to sports and recreation for youth furthest from play equity.”

It is a program priority to recruit evaluators who represent communities most impacted by inequities. The Youth Sports Grants team is grateful for all the employees across the Departments of Community & Human Services, Public Health, Metro, Adult & Juvenile Detention, and Natural Resources & Parks who give their time to review applications.

Below are the King County employee volunteers who have participated in the grant review process.

With the end of mandatory telework for Executive Branch employees on July 5, King County departments have begun to implement their Future of Work plans for how they will operate and serve customers in a post-pandemic environment.

For some employees, this means moving to a new location or a new model for delivering services. Some will accomplish their work primarily in person, others primarily remotely, or they make work a hybrid of both.

To help you during this transition, King County has built a centralized Future of Work intranet site (employee access only) to provide resources, tools, news, and answers to your questions.

The site is divided into five subsites, each with a range of resources for you:

• What to expect returning to in-person work
• Technology and workstations
• Moves and space consolidation
• Health and safety expectations at work
• Personal safety at work.

This site will be regularly updated with new information and resources, so please bookmark the site, and check back often for updates and answers to your questions.

by Lindsay Prior, Communications Manager, Department of Information Technology

Women in government are gaining confidence and leadership skills thanks to a unique partnership between KCIT and the Seattle-based Koa Club. Recently, more than 70 King and Snohomish County employees participated in the second-annual Mentorship Huddle challenge. The competition showcased participants’ leadership skills and knowledge gained through the Koa Club’s FollowMyLead training program for women in government.

King County CIO Tanya Hannah approached Koa Club founder Susan Seah in 2020 to design a curriculum focused on women’s career development. “Tanya was instrumental in seeing this need and advocating for implementing the program for the women at KCIT and eventually, other women at King County,” said Susan.

During the pandemic, the program quickly adapted to online workshops without missing a beat. “That turned out well and allowed us to expand the offering to more women,” said Susan. The program has grown rapidly; in 2020, the FollowMyLead program had about 40 participants, and has expanded this year to nearly 70 women.

Participants are assigned to a Mentorship Huddle of 6-8 women and attend a series of 10 online workshops together throughout the year. “Our huddle group has been the best surprise ever. Each one of these women is a true gem,” said Claire Christian, Real Property Agent for DNRP Wastewater Treatment Division and Huddle Mentor for this year’s winning team. “For me, the amazing women in our huddle group have been the icing on the cake. And the filling. And the sprinkles.”

Mid-way through the program, the huddle teams test their knowledge and skills in a fun, collaborative competition in which each team is given a realistic workplace scenario and asked how they would handle the situation; a panel of judges – all impressive women leaders themselves – evaluate each team’s response. Special thanks goes to this year’s contest judges including Tanya Hannah, King County Chief Information Officer; Whitney Abrams, King County Chief People Officer; Kathryn Fugere, Snohomish County Department of Public Works Technology Manager; Lorraine Patterson, King County DNRP Chief Administrative Officer; Devinder Sandhu, Snohomish County Human Resources Operations Manager; and Caroline Whalen, King County Chief Administrative Officer.

“Everyone did an amazing job during the contest,” said Chris Jaramillo, Cable Communications Manager for KCIT. “For me, the program has been really fun and helped me be more productive at work. I’d tell any woman in King County that you should join because of the networking aspects of the program. You’ll come out of it with a few more friends. I think we all need to have some fun in the workplace.”

Congratulations to all the women who participated in this year’s Mentorship Huddle challenge! For more information on applying to next year’s FollowMyLead women in government leadership program, contact Susan Seah at sseah@thekoaclub.com.

Courtesy of the King County’s Sheriff’s Office Facebook page

Fury, a King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) drug detection K9, is rightfully proud of this bust. His specialized detection skills helped sniff out the perps. 

Detectives from multiple King County Sheriff’s Office Special Emphasis Teams (SET), with the support of TAC-30
(SWAT) and Bomb Disposal Units (BDU), executed a search recently in southeast King County.

The work was the result of a months-long investigation into narcotics distribution and firearms-related crimes. The results in this case are impressive and include the seizure of 3.6 pounds of heroin, 5.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 6,471 fentanyl pills and 21.7 grams of crack cocaine. The street value of these narcotics is estimated to be $250,000.

They also recovered 14 firearms, including multiple handguns, shotguns and rifles, which is equally impactful.

The suspect in this case was booked into the King County Jail for multiple felonies including being a felon in possession of stolen firearms.

We congratulate all of our detectives for their work. Every gun, gram and pill the Sheriff’s Office recovers is potentially a life saved. With overdoses and gun violence touching too many of our neighbors, we know this case made White Center, Burien, Skyway, Maple Valley, Covington, and other communities throughout south King County safer.

For employees returning to the office (full time or occasionally), KCIT is committed to making your transition as stress-free as possible. The Future of Work may look a little different for each department, but KCIT is launching new technology to bridge the distance between colleagues and foster greater collaboration. Here are some innovations you can expect in the coming months:

• Reserve your workspace in the office

For employees without a permanent desk, KCIT will offer a new drop-in desk reservation system. The new system, ESRI Indoors, will launch this fall for agencies in Chinook and King Street Station. If you’re part of the initial launch, you’ll receive detailed instructions soon.

• Connect seamlessly in smart conference rooms
  More than 125 conference rooms in the Chinook building and King Street Center are scheduled to be fitted with standardized tech hubs that streamlines connectivity and provides a shared experience for employees in the office, in the field, and working from home. To get started, view these Microsoft Surface Hub training videos.
  
  
• New KCWeb Intranet functionality
  King County’s KCWeb intranet homepage is getting a makeover. The new modern SharePoint design will bring timely and relevant information to the forefront, giving you access to your favorite apps, web pages and King County newsfeeds. This will reduce the need for browser bookmarks and email newsletters crowding your inbox.

Look for more detailed updates as each of these new technologies is implemented, or visit King County’s Future of Work intranet site.

While serving as a trainer for the King County’s Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), two things happened that helped Sgt. Jaime Deer realize that he could no longer travel the path in life he’d been born to. First, Caitlyn Jenner announced to the world she was transgender and would be transitioning to female. And second, another openly transgender officer came through the class where Jaime was the trainer. Those two events gave Jaime the courage to admit that he wasn’t being true to himself and that it was time to become the person he’d felt he was all his life.

Jaime grew up in a small, midwestern town and tried hard to fit in. He acted as the straight woman in the female body he’d been born with into his 20s, even marrying a man and having a child, before joining the KCSO in 1998. He left that relationship and identified as lesbian, eventually getting married to a woman, thinking that might be the solution. But this did not resolve the emotional and physical longings Jaime had felt as far back as he could remember. 

Knowing that transitioning to a male was going to come with some struggles, Jaime was fortunate to have the support of his wife, friends, and community. There were also allies at King County and in the Sheriff’s department. In 2016, Jaime decided it would be better while transitioning to leave his training position and go back on patrol. He asked his supervisor to send his coworkers a message he composed that said he considers them part of his family, and though he was realistic enough to know that not everyone would readily accept him, he wrote “I fully expect your tolerance, and if you can supply it, your friendship.”  Upon returning to work, Jaime had messages of support not only from coworkers but also from other employees across King County.

From square one to national resource

When Jaime took this step, the Sheriff’s Office didn’t have guidelines or training on how to handle a situation with an employee going through gender reassignment.  Jaime helped KCSO leadership and the LBGTQ+ liaison develop guidelines with some research and support from other agencies that had already taken that step, including the Los Angeles and Seattle Police Departments. “It’s been a learning curve for Sheriff’s office,” he said, “But my superior has been very supportive.”

As Jaime’s story got around, and his coworkers got used to the idea, he became a resource in ways he hadn’t really imagined. “There was a teen who was suicidal about coming out as trans,” Jaime recalls “and the officer on the scene called me to come talk to the teen and the family, to share my experience.”

Jaime has even served as a resource for agencies across the region and nationally. “I’ve been asked to do trainings in Olympia, Spokane, Mt. Vernon” he said, “I also did a live Q and A session with the Jacksonville PD on how to respectfully handle situations dealing with trans people.” The U.S. Department of Justice contacted Jaime to do a virtual talk with officers on how to be sensitive to trans people they interact with.

Trainings cover a variety of topics. Something that might seem small, “like using the appropriate pronouns” can have a big impact. “I’ve had officers ask me how to ask if someone is non-binary, without being disrespectful,” Jaime reflected. “These are valid questions and it’s good they feel comfortable enough to ask me.”

Working with the LGBTQ+ community

Jaime also does training for the LGBTQ+ community on interacting with law enforcement. He said there are a lot of preconceived notions of law enforcement that are usually wrong. The same can be said of LBGTQ+ community and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

“I’ve actually had more negative response from the LGBT side than the law enforcement side,” and he attests that “If you throw down hate toward the people making change you slow the progress.”

Jaime mentions a trans person from the 1960s who told him she thought she’d never see LGBT officers in her lifetime. Jaime agrees, saying that we’re at a point he never expected to see in his lifetime. But he’s realistic, knowing there’s a long road ahead. “You have to acknowledge and accept the progress, so you don’t impede it continuing,” he advises.