Transportation employee honored at state awards ceremony
Road Maintenance Manager Jeremy Ferguson was recently honored by the American Public Works Association (APWA) Washington State Chapter for his achievements in the public works profession. The Night of Excellence conference recognizes individuals for personal and team accomplishments.
First, Jeremy received the June Rosentreter Spence Award, which recognizes efforts to recruit individuals into the public works field, especially those historically underrepresented such as women, minorities, and people with disabilities. His recognition for this award can be viewed in this video. Jeremy was also a co-recipient of the APWA Committee in Action Award for his work on the Diversity Committee. This award recognizes a committee that provides exceptional value to the American Public Works Association membership and public works professionals by developing educational opportunities that foster understanding, awareness, and involvement for diversity.
The APWA described Jeremy as “a true leader in promoting diversity and inclusion, not only within APWA but within King County and the community. He has been a work-horse for the Diversity Committee giving presentations, and taking other actions to engage conference attendees in diversity.”
Pictured at left: From left to right APWA WA President Scott Egger, King County’s Jeremy Ferguson, and former APWA WA President Kirk Holmes. Pictured below: Jeremy with coworkers and out in the field.
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“What is a Presiding Judge and why do we need one?”
A new podcast from King County Superior Court features Judge Laura Inveen, who has been on the bench for 26 years and spent the last two years as Presiding Judge. We talk to her about what a “PJ” does and how she works with 52 co-equal colleagues.
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Featured Job: Marketing and Service Information Supervisor
Salary: $107,762.09 – $130,276.64 Annually
Location: Seattle, WA
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Department: MTD – Metro Transit
Job Number: 2018EE09146
Closing: 1/17/2019 11:59 PM Pacific
King County Metro – recently named North America’s most outstanding large transit system – is a leader in helping people move quickly throughout the region, reducing commuter stress, greening the environment and radically improving urban air quality, by providing comfortable, effective transit services for the thousands of commuters and other residents of King County, Washington. We provides mobility services that connect people and communities in Seattle and King County. We operate more than 200 bus routes covering about 2,000 square miles, a complementary paratransit program, and one of the largest vanpool programs in the country. We also offer and are developing a wide array of innovative mobility programs to help meet our customers’ changing needs and growing demand.
We are seeking someone to manage our marketing and customer communications efforts. We’re looking for a person who’s energized about helping current and new customers get where they need to go. The successful candidate will have strategic marketing and branding experience and customer communications experience to connect the diverse people of King County and the region with our services.
This position leads a talented staff of 20 employees in Metro’s Marketing & Promotions, Service Information, and Distribution Services groups. They are supported by two chief-level managers and an administrative specialist.
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
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Pet of the Week: Pearl
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
This girl needs a new home in the New Year – meet Pearl, our Pet of the Week!
She was brought in by a good Samaritan last May, and thought she had found her forever home. Unfortunately though, Pearl had to come back to us because her adopter was allergic. They did say that Pearl was a great pet, potty trained, and super well behaved.
Read more from Tails from RASKC
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Kudos! King County Metro Transit receives rave from Seattle Times readers
This piece was featured at the top of the Seattle Times’ Rant and Raves list for December 30, 2018. Kudos to our efficient King County Metro Transit!
“RAVE To Sound Transit, King County Metro Transit and Seattle Center Monorail for providing me and my out-of-town visitor a pleasant adventure from Auburn into Seattle, all on public transportation! From the kind attendant in Auburn who alerted us that we were on the wrong side of the train platform, to the friendly enforcers who boarded the train to verify riders had paid. Once into Seattle, everyone was gracious, polite and knowledgeable guiding us from purchasing tickets to directing us on our stops to the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and back to Auburn.”
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Featured Training: Lean Problem-Solving Basics and Introduction to Career Development,
Lean Problem-Solving Basics, Feb. 5: Do you feel like you tackle the same problems over and over again? In order to effectively solve problems once and for all, they must be solved at the root! Attendees will learn basic A3 Problem Solving, the powerful method borrowed from the Toyota Production System (TPS), learn techniques to incorporate problem solving and continuous improvement in daily work and build on existing Lean practices within your organization. Register and learn more.
Introduction to Career Development, Feb. 5: In this workshop you will learn the key elements of career development, identify your individual interests and values as they relate to career options, explore similar job classifications, learn the importance of competencies when identifying career options, leverage tips for engaging in conversations with your leadership, and gain the knowledge of how to research and seize career opportunities. You will choose a partner and participate in various exercises together. Register and learn more.
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New Chair elected at King County Council
Councilmember Rod Dembowski has been elected as the new Chair of the King County Council.
The decision was made earlier this afternoon following passage of a reorganization motion approved by the council. The legislation also appointed Reagan Dunn and reappointed Claudia Balducci to serve as Vice Chairs.
Read more in the official press release.
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Learn about retirement savings options at education events Jan. 15–17
You and your spouse or significant other are invited to learn more about the King County Deferred Compensation Plan at education sessions offered throughout the year.
In-person sessions are coming up Jan. 15–17. Click here for details and registration.
For more information about Deferred Compensation Plan education, including webinars, go to the Deferred Compensation web page.
If you have any questions, please contact KC Deferred Comp.
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New website showcases your awards and successes
King County’s work is receiving national recognition through awards, honors, and accreditations by outside organizations from across the United States, and a new website has been launched to showcase some of the services and programs that have received recognition.
These recognitions range from Best Large Transit System in North America to Wastewater Treatment Outstanding Performance Awards, and include accreditations that our programs have received and individual employees who have been recognized for their work.
“The work that our employees are doing is being noticed on the national stage and we want to make sure that we are sharing these awards with our residents,” Gary Kurihara, Chief Performance Officer, said. “We have incredible employees who take great pride in their work, and these awards are an important piece of the culture of excellence that we are building here at King County.”
Do you see an award or accreditation that is missing? Let us know. Email us at kcemployees@kingcounty.gov.
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King County workgroups featured at statewide Lean conference
At the recently held 2018 Washington State Lean Transformation Conference hosted by Results Washington, the Office of Risk Management Services (ORMS) and the Finance and Business Division (FBOD) within the Department of Executive Services (DES) were invited to present how team cohesion work has helped them attain better results and build a more conducive work environment.
Pictured: ORM staff speaking at their presentation.
Members from ORMS and FBOD presented in two breakout sessions titled “The People Side of Lean – An Interactive Experience for Improving Teamwork.” From ORMS, Business and Finance Officer Delena Carpenter, Litigation Data Solutions Manager Stephanie Santos, and Contracts Analyst Erin Ferrell presented during this session. Each session, featured in collaboration with Integris Performance Advisors President Brett Cooper, shared different experiences regarding team cohesion. View a video of the ORMS presentation here.
Pictured: FBOD’ staff at their presentation.
At this same session, FBOD’s Deputy Director Eunjoo Greenhouse and Senior Continuous Improvement Manager Kara Cuzzetto shared how FBOD benefited from the principles of the Five Behaviors of Cohesive Team trainings to enhance their teamwork and accountability. FBOD has been working to improve its team cohesion by building trust, engaging in productive conflict, and creating stronger commitment and team accountability to deliver better results. View a video of the FBOD presentation here.
Being a part of the conference was a great opportunity for Eunjoo and her team. During this session, several participants inquired how they can use a similar approach to improve their teamwork and wanted to learn more about FBOD’s experience.
“Presenting at the conference is a way to show respect to FBOD employees, share our successes and help others along their journey by sharing our lessons learned,” she said.
Other notable groups also included in the session were the Washington State Department of Licensing, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the San Diego Humane Society, from California.
Additionally, the FBOD team presented at a separate session during the conference titled “Come and Learn How to Build a Cohesive Team – King County’s People Side of Lean.” They were joined in their presentation by Integris Performance Advisors Consultant Gwen Voelpel.
King County is leading the way through transformative Lean efforts and building a culture of performance excellence. Allowing employees to share their experiences of how Lean influences their workplace and their relationships with one another is essential to furthering the impact of this work. Through a positive, collaborative culture of continuous improvement, King County is changing operations for the better and delivering more value through County resources to customers and residents. For more information visit www.kingcounty.gov/lean.
Results Washington is Governor Inslee’s data-driven performance management and continuous improvement system.
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