Pet-of-the-Week twofur: Smidgen and Tidbit
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
These senior miniature poodles were brought in a couple of weeks ago by a resident who found them. Smidgen and Tidbit love spending time together and are always found curled up together on their bed. These two are affectionate lovebugs who would love to cuddle up with you at home!
Smidgen has an adorable snaggle-tooth that adds to his character. Tidbit is also very charming, and has an adorable squeal she makes when she’s happy.
Because these two are older dogs, they will have some special care needs. RASKC’s staff and volunteers would be happy to talk to you about their needs when you visit! For more information, view the full post on Tails from RASKC.
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Take Trailhead Direct transit from Capitol Hill to Mount Si
The second Trailhead Direct route kicked off Saturday, offering service from Sound Transit’s Capitol Hill Link light rail station to Mount Si and Mount Teneriffe. There are stops for customers in downtown Seattle and at the Eastgate and North Bend park-and-rides.
Beginning June 16, customers will also be able to board a Trailhead Direct transit van at a free satellite parking lot in North Bend for a ride to the Mailbox Peak trailhead.
Trailhead Direct second route map
“We are connecting high-capacity transit to some of the most popular hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “The seamless transit system we are building offers faster, more reliable commutes and convenient options to enjoy the best recreation our vibrant region has to offer.”
“We are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and Trailhead Direct helps connect our residents and visitors to our awesome outdoors. Trailhead Direct builds on our investments in the Seattle transit network, where we’ve improved the frequency and reliability on 64 other routes,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. “The new service from Capitol Hill to the Mount Si and Mount Tenneriffe trails is another example of our strong partnerships to provide more equitable access to the outdoors, so that everyone can go enjoy the beauty of the Northwest.”
Trailhead Direct is a public-private partnership between King County Metro Transit, King County Parks, the Seattle Department of Transportation, REI Co-op, and Clif Bar and Company. The other partners include the cities of Issaquah and North Bend, the Issaquah Alps Trail Club, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, Outdoors For All Foundation, Si View Metropolitan Park District, The Mountaineers, The Wilderness Society, TOTAGO, U.S. Forest Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and Washington Trails Association.
The first route began service April 21, offering service from Sound Transit’s Mount Baker Link light rail station to multiple trailheads in the Issaquah Alps.
The second route began Saturday and makes the service convenient for Metro customers in downtown Seattle as well as hotel guests.
Trailhead Direct was first launched in August 2017 as a pilot project sponsored by King County Metro’s Community Connections program and King County Parks to expand access to hiking trails and reduce trailhead congestion in the Issaquah Alps, where illegally parked vehicles created traffic hazards and safety concerns.
The weekend and holiday service operates 13-, 17-,19- and 27-seat transit vans with the capacity for two bicycles for each trip. Passengers pay Metro’s standard off-peak adult fare of $2.50 until July, when Metro implements a $2.75 flat fare. Passengers can pay with an ORCA card, Transit Go Mobile ticket, or cash.
Dogs may ride at the discretion of the operator under Metro’s guidelines. Passengers with larger, non-service dogs may need to pay to an additional fare
Read the entire release from Executive News, which includes video, graphics and other useful links.
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Your Big Backyard 5K run and walk – fitness and more!
Since 2010, the Big Backyard 5K presented by Kaiser Permanente has promoted fitness and community involvement, and has raised more than $300,000 for King County Parks – your big backyard. Supporting King County Parks through the BBY5K helps keep our parks, trails and open spaces operating for all to enjoy, and you’ll have a lot of fun doing it! This family-friendly event is Sunday, June 3 at Marymoor Park.
Get $20 off your registration fee using discount Code KPThrive
The BBY5K is proud to have Kaiser Permanente* as its presenting sponsor. Kaiser Permanente wants to help King County employees thrive and, if you are one of the first 250 people to enter Discount Code KPThrive when you sign up for the event, you’ll get $20 off your registration fees (discount applies to individual registrants only).
For more on thriving, read our sponsor’s tips about 11 simple ways to thrive!
*Kaiser Permanente refers to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington
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Third payday of the month, May 31
Most King County employees get paid on a biweekly basis. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, there are actually 26 pay periods. So, two months each year you will receive three paychecks—this year, it will happen on May 31 and Nov. 29.
The net dollar amount of these two paychecks may be larger because not all deductions are taken out. For example, Deferred Compensation, supplemental insurance premiums, Benefit Access Fees, and Employee Giving donations are not deducted from these “third” paychecks.
For more information about your paycheck, go to Payroll or speak with your department Payroll representative or timekeeper.
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Chief Operating Officer tours treatment plant, meets with employees
Casey Sixkiller, Chief Operating Officer for King County Executive Dow Constantine, has been out meeting employees and leaders at worksites across the county since joining Executive Constantine’s Senior Leadership Team in February to learn more about all of the County’s lines of business, and he recently met with employees at the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Magnolia.
West Point treats sewage and stormwater from Seattle and its northern suburbs – about 100 million gallons a day, and up to 440 million gallons during heavy rains – and serves approximately 700,000 customers.
“I’m just so impressed by the level of dedication and professionalism that our employees are bringing to the work that they do,” Sixkiller said. “To see this government in action is very exciting. It reminds me why I decided to make this move across the country to be part of public service.”
Watch the short video to learn more about West Point and Casey’s visit.
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Join us at a Road to Retirement class
Are you retiring this month? Next month? If you’re planning to leave King County employment by retiring in the near future, join your Retirement Team for Road to Retirement Class (formerly known as Exit Class). We’ll cover important information you need—so you’re ready to walk out the door.
Road to Retirement class is held on the last Tuesday of each month from 1 – 3 p.m., and registration is required, as space is limited. The next class is Tuesday, May 29, 1 – 3 p.m.
Before attending, go to Leaving Employment and read the Exit Guide to get some of your questions answered ahead of time.
Please note: attendance at this class is strictly voluntary, on your own time, and non-work related.
Register for Road to Retirement Class. For more information, contact KC Orientations.
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Employee engagement, health and well-being at DNRP
When the Department of Natural Resources and Parks’s Wastewater Comprehensive Planning and GIS group sat down to review their engagement survey results, they kept coming back to one thing – improving their well-being. To support each other in this engagement goal, they posted a list of 25 things they can do together, or alone, and place a check next to the item when they’ve done it so the team can encourage each other and hold each other accountable.
John Conway, Water Quality Planner and Project Manager
“There are so many things I love about this engagement action plan,” said Employee Health and Well-Being Manager Janna Wilson. “We know from research that when people share their goals and progress with each other, they are more likely to achieve those goals. And, studies have shown that your own behavior can inspire changes in the health habits of those around you. It’s so powerful that this group is finding a way to build a positive team dynamic through their shared interest in well-being. This is a great marriage of employee engagement and health and well-being, two things that are important to the county’s culture.”
This group of planners well understands the impact of managing risk upstream. They are in charge of looking into the future to ensure that our wastewater system and infrastructure can accommodate the complex and interdependent demands placed on it by population growth, climate change and aging systems. And now they’ve turned this same talent to personal well-being, where the behaviors we engage in daily can have a huge impact on our future health.
“We wanted help managing our own health,” said John Conway, Water Quality Planner and Project Manager. “We wanted to have fun reducing stress. We wanted to build bonds with other staff, promote happiness, improve our diet and help our mental and physical health.”
The group chose well-being from a list of three possible items. First, they met as a staff and reviewed the survey results together and talked about which questions they wanted to focus on. At the end of the discussion they had 11 on the wall and each person got 3 dots to identify their top choices to focus on. Three rose to the top. The team felt the first was not actionable. The others focused on applying equity and social justice skills and health and well-being. To tackle equity and social justice, the team joined in department wide efforts to implement the ESJ strategic plan. To get at well-being, they brainstormed a list of 25 ideas team members could do together or alone. Things on the list include playing ping pong in Occidental Square over lunch, sharing a recipe, and giving someone a compliment.
“We’re a group of planners so we think outside of the box,” said Susan Kaufman-Una, Manager, Comprehensive Planning, Inspection, Modeling, Mapping and Monitoring. “Sometimes we can’t even find the box!”
The list is posted on a “Health and Wellness Tracker” in the work group, where members of the group can anonymously mark when they have completed one of the healthy activities. The most popular things on the list? Walking, exercising and drinking 8 glasses of water.
The most unusual? Coloring, which is attracting participants from workgroups elsewhere on their floor who contribute their own creations to the expanding gallery.
The team coloring area
A completed well-being project
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Executive Constantine visits KCIT to learn from and thank employees
King County has recently been experiencing a wave of phishing attacks on its data and information systems, so King County Executive Dow Constantine visited the County employees who are working to protect our data to learn more about the attacks and thank them for their efforts.
Executive Constantine met with King County Information Technology Operations and Security, Risk, and Compliance staff in the Chinook Building to learn more about how KCIT handles cybersecurity before, during, and after an incident and get an update on KCIT’s security strategy and vision to be better positioned to protect the County from emerging threats.
Executive Constantine visits with KCIT employee Steve Coffing
“The threat from cybercriminals is constant, and KCIT is remaining vigilant to protect our data, technology platforms, and reputation so we can continue to serve the diverse needs of our customers,” Executive Constantine said. “I am thankful for the dedication and sophistication of KCIT employees and their 24/7 efforts to safeguard our data and IT capabilities.”
KCIT has seen a big increase in phishing and spam emails sent to King County employees in recent months. Phishing is an attempt to obtain information from you which gives outsiders access to King County systems.
KCIT’s Security, Risk and Compliance team has completely transformed itself into a frameworks-based unit that allows a more nimble, rapid response to threats while at the same time focusing resources on areas that will deliver the most reduction of risk going forward. New capabilities were brought online within days of the most recent phishing attacks, strengthening KCIT’s ability to protect our employees and assets.
Executive Constantine and CIO Tanya Hannah spend time with KCIT employees
Executive Constantine also met with Customer Support Services staff – who are on the front line responding to customer inquiries and issues and providing IT support – and Network Services employees, who help employees connect to email, SharePoint, Skype for Business, the Internet and other applications.
“Listening in to a customer support call I was struck by the care and knowledge that employees put into making sure their customers quickly get the solutions and answers they need to get back to their work.”
If you have IT concerns or questions, please contact the KCIT Service Center at 206-263-HELP (4357) or log a ticket at helpticket@kingcounty.gov.
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Tech Tip: Username format for new employees
King County changed the username format for new employees in March 2017 to a single, universal sign on. The new format is simpler to remember, easier to automate for new account creation, and it increases the county’s ability to protect against phishing, scams and other cyber threats.
What is the new username?
For PCs or email, it is the first letter of first name plus the last name. For example, Juan Hernandez would be JHernandez to sign into a PC, laptop, all work stations, and – eventually – PeopleSoft. Juan’s email address would be JHernandez@KingCounty.gov. Not Hernandezj, HernanJ, or any other combination. Simply JHernandez.
What if multiple employees share the same name?
The second employee will use the first and second letter of the first name plus the last name, and the third employee will use the first three letters of the first name, and so on; JHernandez becomes JuHernandez becomes JuaHernandez.
This only affects new employees. Current employees will continue to use the existing naming conventions for the foreseeable future.
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Expanding mental health services in King County middle schools
Crossposted from Best Starts for Kids
From coping with stress and social pressure to the appearance of mental health needs, many middle schoolers benefit from mental health support as they find their way through adolescence.
We’re thrilled to announce that beginning this fall, middle school students in over 40 King County schools will have more access to mental health screening and services at their school. Best Starts for Kids and the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency levy will combine funds to invest $12.6 million over three years to expand Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Services (SBIRT), a school-based tool to promote mental health and prevent substance use for middle school students. The program will reach as many as 35,000 students each school year.
To learn more about brain development in middle school and the importance of early mental health screening and support, we sat down with a Maggie Milligan, a Prevention Intervention Specialist at the Center for Human Services, and Dr. Meg Cary, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Department of Community and Human Services. Check out this video to hear from these experts and learn more about SBIRT.
Read the rest of the story on the Best Starts for Kids Blog.
Employee News 