PeopleSoft weekend outage beginning 3 p.m. Friday, June 7
To allow for system maintenance, the PeopleSoft system will not be available this weekend beginning 3 p.m. Friday, June 7. During this planned outage, the Business Resource Center (BRC) will apply vendor updates and maintenance.
This work will begin on Friday, June 7, at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to be completed by 6:30 a.m. on Monday, June 10. The system will not be available for access by any County staff during this outage window. There will be a communication sent out to all County staff when the system becomes available.
We realize that this outage impacts PeopleSoft users. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Share this:
Mark Rowe is the new Deputy Director for King County Local Services Permitting Division
Crossposted from Local Services
Recently, King County Local Services Permitting Division welcomed Mark Rowe as its new Deputy Director.
It’s somewhat of a homecoming for Rowe, who had two prior stints with the county. He first spent six years as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist for Public Health-Seattle & King County before joining AT&T Broadband, where he managed the teams that established high-speed data and voice networks in the state. In 2003, he rejoined Public Health as Program Manager for Emergency Preparedness, then as Food Protection and Water Recreation Facilities Section Manager.
Read more from Local Services
Share this:
Supporting and advancing immigrant rights
Bookda Gheisar has been the Immigrant and Refugee Policy Advisor for King County in the Office of Equity and Social Justice (OESJ). This is Bookda’s last week before she transitions to take a new position at the Port of Seattle as their first Senior Director for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
In this article, Bookda shares some of her reflections and learnings while at the County and provides resources that are available to support King County employees as we all work towards more equitable work places and communities.
In 2015, the King County Council and King County Executive formed the King County Immigrant and Refugee Task Force. I was hired as a consultant to conduct community engagement and provide recommendations. Over nine months, we held more than 20 community meetings hearing feedback from more than 500 immigrant and refugee community members. This critical work identified barriers in accessing King County services and offered many solutions as identified by community members. The final report can be viewed here.
I then joined the Equity and Social Justice team to support immigrant community partnership and engagement, developing policies to advance and protect the rights of immigrants. After three years, I am now moving on to help create the first office of equity for the Port of Seattle. As I leave, I reflect upon some of our joint accomplishments.
Immigrant and Refugee Commission
The task force recommended an Immigrant and Refugee Commission for King County. The Commission is now in place with 13 members from very diverse backgrounds and expertise.
The Immigrant and Refugee Commission (KCIRC) plays a significant role in engaging immigrant and refugee communities to establish long-lasting trust-based relationships with County offices and programs. KCIRC strives to leverage existing programs and funding, and advocate for increased dedicated resources necessary for immigrant refugee communities to thrive. Meet one of our Commission members in this video.
The Commission is currently engaging with a group of 50 Somali women business owners who have been displaced in Seatac. Read more here about how we are supporting efforts to develop short term and long term goals for their next steps.
I hope that all departments continue to reach out to the Commission through Matias Valenzuela (Matias.Valenzuela@kingcounty.gov) to ask for advice and support on initiatives and policies impacting our communities.
Pictured: Members of the community, King County Council, and the King County Executive celebrate the passing of legislation to create an Immigrant and Refugee Commission.
King County Legal Defense Fund
We founded the first King County Legal Defense Fund to support organizations serving low-income immigrants and refugees in King County whether in detention, facing removal, or in danger of losing their immigration status. Leveraging City of Seattle support between October 2017 and April 2019, Legal Defense Network partners have utilized $1.8 million to screen 1,072 individuals, conduct 885 intake assessments, provide direct representation for 357 individuals, and place another 12 with pro bono attorneys, and provide legal advice to an additional 339 individuals.
I am so happy to report that we have been able to continue this critical work and have just awarded $5,446,333 of funding for the next five years.
Immigration Ordinance
Pictured: Members of the community and King County executive staff celebrate the passing of the immigration ordinance.
In collaboration with community partners, advocacy organizations and Councilmember Gosset, we passed a historical robust immigration ordinance.
The ordinance fosters trust and fairness for King County immigrant communities. It established requirements for how agencies, offices and employees will provide services to immigrants, and requirements for the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention honoring of federal administrative detainers, granting access to inmates and sharing information. It also provides translation assistance requirements for non-English speaking persons, a formal complaint process and an immigrants and refugees fund.
Other tools, models and resources
Much of the work I have done at the County provides a framework or resources for others to also perform similar work. I am happy to share the following tools and encourage you to refer to them when working towards your own equity goals:
- A racial equity framework that contributed to the Workforce Development Council for King County and the City of Seattle.
- Equity and Social Justice values that shaped our community engagement approach related to Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA).
- Tools and resources and training materials for King County employees to help support your efforts.
Thank you for everything and may we have many reasons to collaborate together when I am at the Port of Seattle.
Share this:
Solidarity with our Virginia Beach colleagues
Dear fellow King County employee,
King County Executive Dow Constantine
On Friday, our nation witnessed another mass shooting, this time at a municipal building in Virginia Beach. Most of the people who lost their lives were public employees, dutifully serving the people of their community.
Public service is important work, and it only compounds the tragedy that these individuals died while working to improve the lives of their fellow Virginia Beach residents.
Each time a shooting occurs and lives are senselessly cut short, it erodes our sense of safety. Sometimes it is worshipers. Sometimes schoolchildren. This time many of the victims were our colleagues in municipal government. We send our message of sympathy and solidarity to the entire Virginia Beach family.
Keeping you safe in the course of your work is paramount, and we work hard to maintain the security of our worksites. If you ever see anyone or anything that looks potentially dangerous, please call the Facilities Management Division Security at 206-296-5000. If it’s an emergency, call 911 first.
I also encourage you to sign up to KCInform, our employee emergency alert system, to make sure you can be reached in a major emergency. If you haven’t yet registered your contact information in KCInform, please email kcinform@kingcounty.gov or call 206-296-3830 between 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday to request your unique registration link.
When we witness outrages like this one, it is important that we support one another. If you would like to speak with someone, King County provides two free services to employees that offer professional support and advice: the Employee Assistance Program and Making Life Easier. Both resources are free and confidential.
Thank you for everything you do for the people of King County.
Sincerely,
Dow Constantine
King County Executive
Share this:
Pet of the Week: Miss Daisy
Hi! My name is Miss Daisy and I am available for adoption. I was brought in by my previous owner on May 24, 2019 because they could no longer house me safely. I lived in a home with another dog named Miss Leena, we are best friends and would love to find a home together! I’m a social butterfly and I am the party of the room everytime! I’m such a sweet little gal with so much love in my heart! My personality color is GREEN. I am an adaptable dog who loves to go with the flow! I am outgoing and carefree, and I just can’t wait to find my forever home! For more information, please reference Animal ID Number A585555 and call 206-296-3936.
To see this pet and view other animals available for adoption, visit www.kingcounty.gov/adoptapet.
Share this:
Featured Job: User Experience Designer
Salary: $106,889.33 – $135,488.70 Annually
Location: Seattle, WA
Job Type: Special Duty Assignment or Term Limited Temp (TLT)
Department: KCIT – Information Technology
Job Number: 2019-09564
Closing: 6/7/2019 11:59 PM Pacific
King County is looking for an experienced UX designer to join our growing User Experience team. As a UX designer, you will own the design of a product from start to finish: from conducting user research and creating elegant designs that help users achieve their goals, to validating designs through usability testing. We’re looking for someone who will bring a deep empathy for the user, an outstanding visual aesthetic, and a conscientious approach to projects. You should have a great design sense, a thoughtful portfolio, and enthusiasm for working through complex problems.
King County Department of Information Technology (KCIT)
KCIT is providing the building blocks for many of the region’s most critical services. As the business solutions partner, we collaborate with the 18 County departments to develop products and services that better serve the needs of our customers and our community. To learn more about KCIT, please visit: http://kingcounty.gov/depts/it.aspx
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
Share this:
Training Spotlight: Lean Basics
Lean Basics, July 18: Have you heard about Lean before? Have you wondered if Lean could be applied on your job? Come and join us in the Lean Basics course where you will become familiar with the fundamental principles of Lean; such as Waste Identification, Visual Management, and Continuous Improvement. Students will engage the materials through instructor lead classroom discussions, and interactive hands-on learning. Register and learn more.
View more training and development opportunities at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Share this:
Tech Tip: Use common sense
How to access the training:
To start your Cyber Security Awareness Training please login at:
https://sso.securingthehuman.org/kingcounty/
Your account for Securing the Human:
- Username: King County email address
- Password: King County email password
For more information about Cyber Security please visit our Sharepoint site:
https://kc1.sharepoint.com/teams/ITISRC/ISRCPUB
Share this:
Apply now! 2019 Balanced You Worksite Fund
How do you want to be healthy and well at work? Apply now for a Balanced You Worksite Fund grant to help you and your coworkers bring your own innovative ideas and solutions to life.
When you apply through the Balanced You Worksite Fund, you have an opportunity to create positive change for you and your coworkers. The Worksite Fund is a competitive grant process that will award approximately 20-30 projects across County agencies to improve health, well-being, and safety in our worksites. Grants up to $5,000 will support a variety of projects, from the purchase of kitchen equipment and supplies, to workshops, team-building activities, and social clubs. The intent is to fund projects in a wide variety of health and well-being domains, so get your creative juices flowing!
Read more from Balanced You
Share this:
Read the newly released Local Food Initiative Report!
The King County Local Food Initiative 2018 Annual Report highlights significant accomplishments and tracks our progress toward building a stronger local food system over the year, including:
Protecting more than 920 acres of farmland and getting more than 630 acres of fallow land back into food production in King County since 2016;
- Increasing farmer sales at King County’s farmers markets by nearly 5 percent year-over-year since 2017;
- Enrolling 26 aspiring farmers in training programs in 2018; and
- Supporting the Fresh Bucks Benefits program so that nearly $500,000 in Fresh Bucks were redeemed by low-income shoppers at farmers markets in 2018.
These are just a few of the examples of work King County and food systems stakeholders have done over the past few years to support farmers, increase sales of locally grown food, and bring the nutritional benefits of that food to more people. View the full report here.
Employee News 