Executive meets with employees from Native American Leadership Council
King County Executive Dow Constantine recently met with employees from the County’s Native American Leadership Council (NALC) to learn about their experiences as employees, what the County can do to bring more Native American employees into its workforce and help them advance, and how the County can be more effective in serving Native people in local communities.
At his November 19 Employee Listening Session, Executive Constantine discussed a wide range of issues with Tristen Gardner from the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, Andy Boland from Parks Division, Natasha Frazier from the Department of Public Defense, Richard Shupe with KCIT, Clarissa Antone with Solid Waste Division, Pamela Stearns from the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Lisa Longdon with the Department of Human Resources, Katherine Festa and Avreayl Jacobson from the Department of Community and Human Services, and Bryon Davis with the Department of Transportation.
“I want to hear about what you’re experiencing in the workplace and on the ground, and what King County can do to make this a better place to work,” Executive Constantine said. “I want to hear directly from you about the issues facing Native American people in the community but also with respect to being part of the King County workforce.”
Stearns, who is President of the NALC, gave some background on the Council and the work that they do. “We work together to choose issues that we can work together on as a Council to direct change in our community,” she said.
The group raised a wide variety of issues, including the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and how the County can be more effective in supporting native people and communities who come into contact with the legal system.
They also talked about how the County’s job interview processes can actually be a barrier to many Native American applicants who traditionally are taught to be humble rather than boastful when discussing oneself. They also recommended tapping into their network of contacts in community groups to build recruitment pipelines to groups that are being missed with traditional recruiting processes. Building time for more Equity and Social Justice work into employees’ workdays was also an issue the group raised.
The Employee Listening Sessions are part of the Executive’s commitment to connect more frequently with employees, both in person at worksites and events like this one, and electronically through video and email messages.
The Listening Session was also attended by Chief Operating Officer Casey Sixkiller, Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams, and Matias Valenzuela, Director of the Office of Equity and Social Justice. The Executive’s team took several of the suggestions from the Council as action items and are working to see how these issues can be addressed. The Executive will host more Employee Listening Sessions in 2019.
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Featured Job: Market Innovation Manager
Salary: $115,717.00 – $146,678.00 Annually
Location: Seattle, WA
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Department: Department of Transportation – Transit Division
Job Number: 2018AH08947
Closing: 12/9/2018 11:59 PM Pacific
This is an exciting time for King County Metro Transit, which was just named the best large transit agency in North America. The Market Innovation Manager will play a leadership role as Metro continues its transformation into a cutting edge mobility agency, with high capacity transit at the center, and shared mobility services complementing the regional system. The Market Innovation Manager will be central to Metro’s transformation by developing innovative solutions to meet customer needs, keeping abreast of industry trends, understanding how new products and services can serve and advance equity in our regional market, piloting new products and programs, and working across the agency to strategically align our vision and priorities.
As the only county in the United States named after Martin Luther King Jr, one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nations’ history, King County is a vibrant community with residents that represent countries from around the world. It is a region with increasing diversity that cherishes the artistic and social traditions of many cultures. Together, we’re changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence.
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
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What is Lean? A quick refresher
Lean is a way to solve problems. With Lean thinking, we can address issues like unmet customer demand, or unexpected ‘fires’ at work. Using Lean can also help us achieve our goals of delivering more value to our customers.
The foundation of Lean is continuous improvement and respect for people. These are mutually reinforcing: we develop continuous improvement by building a culture of respecting the people who do the work as the experts. A Lean organization develops and engages all employees as learners, as thinkers, and as the source of continuous improvement. Respect for people means that we support and empower employees as problem solvers so that they are able to improve the work—for themselves, for their colleagues, and for their communities. Learn more.
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Take the King County Parks and Trails User Survey!
What do you think of King County Parks such as Cougar Mountain, Marymoor Park or the Sammamish River Trail? As part of our commitment to improving visitor experience, King County Parks is looking for visitor opinions – what’s great about King County’s parks, trails, and natural areas, and what could be improved to make them even better. Take our survey to provide feedback! The survey will be open until Dec. 7.
Upon completing the survey, respondents can leave their email addresses to be entered in a drawing to win two tickets to a concert at the 2019 Marymoor Park Concert series!
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Meet the winners of the 2018 Performance Excellence Awards
The following groups were recognized at the inaugural Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards, held November 26, 2018. These awards recognize projects, improvements, and innovations in departments that are driving exceptional, measurable results.
Pictured: Cost Award winners, Fleet Diagnostics (DOT/Fleet)
Meet the winners: Cost – Fleet Diagnostics (DOT/Fleet)
Project Team: Erik Ferkingstad, Chris Gavigan, Cindy Kittleston, Isaac Wisdom
Problem: In most cases, heavy-duty vehicles with a “check engine” light had to be diagnosed before they could be driven. Non-drivable vehicles were towed to the Renton Shop or the field mechanic had to go to the Renton Shop to get the diagnostic computer. The Renton Shop was the only location with diagnostic software. Click for more.
Pictured: Service Award winners, Missed Trip Reduction (Metro Transit)
Meet the winners: Service – Missed Trip Reduction (Metro Transit)
Project Team: Carri Brezonick, Dennis Lock, Terry White
Problem: In February 2017, Metro missed 332 trips because no operator was available. The direct cause was a lack of part-time operators to fill these trips. Union contract rules required full-time operators be hired from the part-time pool, therefore reducing the number of part-time operators. Space and hiring constraints made it difficult to get drivers hired and trained to replenish the pool of part-time operators. Click for more.
Pictured: People Award winners, Part-Time Employment Program, Public Health
Meet the winners: People – Part-Time Employment Program (Public Health)
Project Team: Andre Chevalier, Jerry DeGrieck, Melody Latshaw, Juan Padilla, Keith Seinfeld, Jamie Siev
Problem: How to create a part-time employment program that would be financially feasible. The team hypothesized that part-time employment would improve morale, would reduce absences, and could be managed with minimal cost. Click for more.
Pictured: Equity and Social Justice Award winners, Leveling the Playing Field for Community Based Organizations (DCHS and Public Health)
Meet the winners: Equity & Social Justice – Leveling the Playing Field for Community Based Organizations (DCHS & Public Health)
Project Team: Andrea Akita, Dan Brandes, Sheila Capestany, Chris D’Abreau, Jen DeYoung, Bonnie Fluckinger, David Gistarb, Hannah Johnson, Vittoria Lin, Megan McJennett, Marcy Miller, Tino Salud, Sarah Wilhelm, Alex Yoon
Problem: Talking with Community Based Organizations, barriers to funding opportunities were revealed in our own Request For Proposal (RFPs) and contracting processes, including the application process is complex and difficult to navigate, smaller organizations may not have staff with grant-writing expertise, RFPs were complex and led with legal language, and cost-based contracts created barriers for smaller organizations. Click for more.
Pictured: Environment Award winners, North Utilities Net-Zero Energy Project (DNRP/Parks)
Meet the winners: Environment – North Utilities Net-Zero Energy Project (DNRP/Parks)
Project Team: David Broustis, Tim Darling, Jennifer Kim, Clayton Kolb, John Mabry, Frank Overton, Parks Grounds Crew, Parks Crafts Crew
Problem: In the existing North Utilities Shop complex, the opportunities had to be carefully evaluated to reduce energy use enough to be offset by the solar power generated on the available roof space, cost effectively. As a further challenge, the facility’s energy use recently rose 15% when the shop began to fabricate metal park bollards (posts). Click for more.
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The lasting legacy of Senior Deputy County Executive Fred Jarrett
At the Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards, King County Executive awarded the Executive’s Leadership Excellence Award to Senior Deputy County Executive Fred Jarrett for being the driving force behind the County’s Lean and continuous improvement work over the last nine years.
He also announced that going forward, this award will be known as the Fred Jarrett Leadership Excellence Award in honor of Jarrett’s legacy in King County’s best-run government journey.
Jarrett is retiring this year and leaves behind a lasting legacy not only at King County but across Washington state. We spoke to a few of his friends and colleagues for a short video to learn more about his impact.
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Building a culture of performance excellence
At King County we are building a workplace culture that embraces Lean thinking, data and measurement, teamwork and respect for people, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
Hear from Executive Constantine and five employees in this short video as they talk about their work and the way they approach it.
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New KCIT online Help Desk portal launching Thursday, Nov. 29.
KCIT is excited to launch its new online Help Desk portal on Thursday, Nov. 29.
The KCIT Help Desk will no longer accept emails to request IT service starting tomorrow. New requests should be submitted through a new online web portal, shown below:
To access the new online Help Desk Portal on Thursday, Nov. 29:
1. Open a browser window
2. Type the following URL into your browser (example below)
3. Select enter
Our new online Help Desk portal will offer:
- Easy to use self-help resources.
- Instant access to your tickets.
- News about outages, attacks and phishing attempts.
- Simple ways to report problems or request new services.
You can still call the Help Desk at: 206-263-HELP(4357)
All open, current tickets will be worked through completion using LANDesk, with new tickets opened in the new Cherwell system.
Watch a short video to learn more about the new online Help Desk portal. It’s easy!
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Awards recognize performance excellence at King County
View more photos below.
King County celebrated the best in employee innovation and service excellence at the inaugural Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards, a program created to recognize projects, improvements, and innovations in departments that are driving exceptional, measurable results.
Departments were each asked to submit up to two nominations in five key areas – cost, service, people, equity and social justice, and environment. Fifteen projects – three in each category – were named as finalists for the awards.
The winning workgroups are:
- Cost: Fleet Diagnostics (DOT/Fleet)
- Service: Missed Trip Reduction (Metro Transit)
- People: Part-Time Employment Program (Public Health/Community Health Services)
- ESJ: Best Starts for Kids – Leveling the Playing Field for Community Based Organizations (DCHS & Public Health)
- Environment: North Utilities Net-Zero Energy Project (DNRP/Parks)
King County Executive Dow Constantine was the keynote speaker at the event and spoke about his goal of making King County the best-run government where performance excellence and Lean thinking are at the heart of everything that employees do.
“We’re here today to celebrate those employees and workgroups whose efforts are helping us make measurable improvements in the quality of life for all people in King County,” Executive Constantine said. “I thank all of today’s nominees for their hard work and commitment to service excellence, and for the example they set for all of us.”
The Executive also talked about the workplace culture we are building at King County, one that embraces Lean thinking, data and measurement, teamwork and respect for people, performance excellence, and an unyielding commitment to continuous improvement.
Before the award ceremony, the 15 nominated projects presented “poster sessions” of their work, so attendees could learn more about their efforts and results. You can review all five winning posters here and the 15 finalists here.
The projects were measured against four key criteria:
- Create greater value for the customer
- Demonstrate measurable improvement results
- Utilize facts and data
- Exhibit progress toward One King County
In closing the event, Chief Performance Officer Gary Kurihara shared a quote from former Secretary of State Colin Powell: “Excellence is not an exception; it is a prevailing attitude.”
“I feel this attitude is about raising the bar,” Kurihara said. “It’s an attitude of being open to change, even when it’s how you’ve always done things. It’s an attitude of measuring and monitoring, even when it might feel scary at first. It’s an attitude of service and putting the team ahead of your interests. I challenge us all to help cultivate this attitude of excellence in becoming a best-run government. I can’t wait to see what this great culture of excellence can achieve next year.”
Nominations for the 2019 awards will open next summer. As you implement your work plan for 2019 and beyond, think about how you will improve service, use data to measure results, enhance employee engagement and collaboration, and ensure your work is aligned to countywide priorities. If you have ideas for 2019 submissions please talk to your manager and leadership team.
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Featured Job: Civil Litigation Attorney
Salary: $99,611.20 – $115,939.20 Annually
Location: Seattle, WA
Job Type: Regular, Full time, 40 hrs/week
Department: King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
Job Number: 2018-08914
Closing: 12/3/2018 11:59 PM Pacific
King County is seeking an experienced civil litigation attorney to join the Civil Division of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Our Civil Division serves as the law firm for all King County agencies.
We value diversity and strive to hire a workforce that reflects the community that we serve. It is essential to our mission that we create and maintain an office that is diverse and inclusive. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is committed to Equity and Social Justice work and we require our lawyers and staff to continually develop their own cultural competence.
You are an experienced civil litigation attorney (tort and/or municipal liability defense preferred) with leadership, integrity, compassion and professionalism who wants to be part of a litigation team dedicated to doing justice for the people of King County. You are prepared to assume immediate responsibility for leading a litigation team with a full litigation case load in state and federal court. You have significant first chair courtroom experience litigating significant tort matters, extensive motion practice experience, and have managed related discovery, preferably in an electronic database.
Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
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