Overseas and service voters
Regardless of where you are in the world, you have the right to cast a ballot in every election and have it arrive on time to be counted. Overseas and service voters have additional voter registration, ballot delivery, and ballot return options.
Let your King County expats and servicemembers know the deadline to register to vote online or by mail for the August 7 primary and special election is Friday, July 6 – the end of this week!
If you have U.S. friends and family overseas, let them know they can learn more about voting from abroad on our Elections site.
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Tech Tip: Basic intro to OneDrive and cloud storage access
ICYMI: Here’s a great basic introduction to OneDrive!
Everyone talks about “The Cloud” – where internet users can store files and access them from anywhere. Did you know King County employees have the exact same application available to them through Office 365? It’s easy to navigate and use.
OneDrive is a great tool for uploading files to share with others (including photos), give others permission to edit and work on files at the same time, and get to your files from anywhere, on your computer, tablet or phone. Essentially, it’s an online locker that allows you to back up and share you digital files, while offering you easy access. You can also create unique sharing terms and more with work team members, just like you can in Google Drive.
You can access Office 365 by signing in with your King County email address to SharePoint at https://kc1-my.sharepoint.com. Once you’re logged in, if you click on the grid in the top left corner the list of available apps for King County employees will appear. Click on OneDrive, with a little cloud icon, to open your personal OneDrive folder. If needed, this short tutorial explains how it works and walks you through setting up documents or folders to share with others.
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2019-2020 Proposed Budget and reorganization overview
Director Dwight Dively
Director Dwight Dively of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget has put together a short video of his points on the upcoming 2019-2020 Budget process.
“The County uses a biennial – or two-year – budget process, and our biennium starts Jan. 1 of each odd-numbered year,” said Dively. “The timeline for our budget process begins with getting budget proposals from departments by the end of June. The executive will then submit his budget proposal to council Sept. 24. The King County Council would then adopt a budget sometime in mid-Nov., and it would go into effect Jan. 1 of next year.”
One of the interesting features of the 2018-2019 budget is that Executive Constantine is going to propose three major reorganizations of agencies and budgets for King County.
“The first is that the executive has decided that Metro Transit needs to be its own department. Metro Transit is by far our largest function, it also serves the largest number of our residents, and the executive believes is needs to be a departmental-level organization. As part of that reorganization, we’re also going to be moving the Marine Division out of the Department of Transportation and combining it with Metro Transit.
“The second departmental change is to create a new Department of Local Services, which will provide services to residents of what we call the unincorporated area – or the area outside of cities. This will combine the Road Services Division from the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Permitting and Environmental Review. We’ll also add a few other functions from other county agencies to create a one-stop shop for residents of our unincorporated areas. As part of that transition, we’ll take two divisions out of the Department of Transportation – the airport and the Fleet Services Division – and move those to the Department of Executive Services.
“The third organizational change is to create a new Human Resources Department by elevating the existing Human Resources Division out of the Department of Executive Services and making it its own department. The county executive believes that human resources is a critical function across the entire government and deserves to be a cabinet-level department.”
For more information, visit the budget web page and watch this short video.
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Leadership transition at Public Defense
Lorinda Youngcourt announced her resignation Friday, June 29, from her role as Director of the Department of Public Defense. Youngcourt became King County’s first Public Defender in January 2015, joining King County from Lawrence County, Indiana, where she was the Chief Public Defender.
“In her three and a half years in the role, Lorinda worked hard to build a new department that extends the highest quality advocacy and representation for indigent individuals and people who cannot afford an attorney in our community,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “She has continued the work of building this still relatively new department, and has been committed to employee development and training, and building connections to bring new, talented staff into DPD.”
Executive Constantine has appointed Anita Khandelwal as Interim Director of the Department. Khandelwal has been serving as DPD’s Deputy Director of Law and Policy, and joined the department in November 2015. A plan is now being developed to begin the recruitment for the permanent DPD Director position.
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Joseph Rivers: Metro operator and Special Olympics athlete, coach, referee, volunteer and athlete parent
Joseph Rivers is one of King County’s 3,000 Metro Transit operators. He is also a former Special Olympics athlete, current volunteer, has coached and refereed for the games, and is the proud father of two of the athletes competing in this week’s Seattle- and King County-hosted 2018 Special Olympic USA Games!
Pictured left to right: Seahawks great Jordan Babineaux, USA Games President and CEO Beth Knox, King County Metro Operator Joseph Rivers, King County Metro General Manager Rob Gannon, Sound Transit EEO Director Jackie Martinez-Vasquez, and Port of Seattle President Courtney Gregoire. Photo courtesy Jeff Switzer
Rivers joined King County Metro General Manager Rob Gannon before the games to announce the partnership between Metro, Sound Transit and Port of Seattle in support of the USA Games. He also discussed the games with KIRO 7 and the Seattle Times. “They’re happy for the support they receive,” Rivers said of the athletes to the Seattle Times. “A lot of the athletes that come and participate are there to win, but then again following the model of ‘let me be brave in the attempt,’ they’re happy to play.”
Joseph Rivers discusses the games and his experiences with KIRO 7 and the Seattle Times. Photo courtesy Jeff Switzer
Rivers added, ““Depending on what you’re doing and what your goals are, it does get scary for some athletes. But then again, they get over it and they do it. And whether they win or not, they feel a sense of accomplishment.”
Rivers’ daughters are two of 4,000 athletes, who join an estimated 15,000 volunteers and 70,000 spectators who will be taking in the games and all King County and Seattle have to offer. “Seattle is a great place to host these Games,” Gannon said. “We have world-class facilities and are surrounded by natural beauty, but even more important Seattle is a place truly committed to equity and the idea that everyone – every single one – should have equal access to opportunity.”
Metro is providing athletes with 4,000 prepaid ORCA cards, allowing them use of public transportation at no charge. In addition to the ORCA cards, Metro is also supporting the games in other ways; including with 75 Metro volunteers who will be in the University District area helping those 4,000 athletes, coaches, and 10,000 other volunteers connect with transit to get where they need to go!
Just like Rivers has been supporting the Special Olympics since long before this week’s excitement, Metro’s support for and inclusion of great people like Joseph is a long-term commitment as well. “Our Department of Transportation has become a big champion of Supported Employment,” said King County Supported Employment Program Manager Christina Davidson, “with Transit hiring four new positions over the past six months, and Roads hiring a new position in 2017.” The county’s Supported Employment Program matches qualified candidates with developmental disabilities to business needs within King County government. Davidson added, “A big Thank You to Transit and Roads leadership for their commitment to building an inclusive workforce!”
#RiseWithUs
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Pet tips: Pets and fireworks
Shared from RASKC
Fireworks are beautiful to look at, but they can be scary for our pets. The bangs and booms are hard on their sensitive hearing, and even the calmest pet can get upset by the unfamiliar loud noises.
To help your pet cope with the noise from fireworks, and reduce the chance that it runs away, Regional Animal Services of King County offers these tips:
- Keep your pet secured indoors in the quietest room of your home while fireworks are going off. You can also use soothing music or television as a distraction. Some pets will stay calmer when placed in a secure crate in a darkened, quiet room.
- If your pet is normally kept outside, bring them inside or put them in a well-ventilated garage or shed or in a basement during fireworks displays.
- Make sure your pet is licensed and has an ID tag or microchip. Pets with ID have a much greater chance of being returned to their owners.
- Don’t assume that your pet won’t react just because you haven’t had problems in the past. Sometimes, pets become sensitive to loud noises later in life.
- If your pet is lost, check in person at all local shelters, and check back often. It may take some time before spooked pets are brought to shelters.
Help for owners with missing pets
If your pet does manage to escape, RASKC is ready to help.
Animal services staff and volunteers at the King County Pet Adoption Center in Kent can help owners search the stray pet kennels, file a missing pet report, and create missing pet posters.
Owners of missing pets can also call the RASKC stray hotline at 206-296-3936 to hear a list of the pets picked up by animal control officers each day.
For more help, check out our Lost Pets information. If you’ve found a stray pet, visit our Found Pets page.
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Metro managers who #RideTransit: Bill Bryant
Shared from the Employee Transportation Program
In observance of #RideTransit Month, we talked with four Metro managers about their transit commutes and any advice they’d like to pass along to new riders.
Metro’s Managing Director of Service Development Bill Bryant is our fourth and final feature, and he regularly rides Routes 15, 18, 40, and the D Line to work from his home in Ballard. Most of the time, he takes the bus both ways, but he also describes himself as a “fair-weather bicyclist” who puts his bike on the bus’ rack in the morning and rides it home at the end of the day. “It’s great exercise and forces me to put my phone away for a while,” he says.
“I estimate that I’ve ridden Metro about fifteen thousand times in the last twenty years,” Bryant says. “I went about four years without a car—with kids and no car. The only reason I got a car was that I had to take my mom’s car away, and I had to keep it to drive her around.”
He likes riding the bus for a lot of reasons. “I really like that you are a part of the community,” says Bryant. “I like that it’s available to everyone, and I like that it’s the most environmentally friendly means of motorized travel.”
When commuting on the bus, Bryant usually spends his time working or catching up on the news, but he also finds opportunities to connect with people. “I have some really good conversations with colleagues, both from Metro and elsewhere, after running into them on the bus,” Bryant says.
His advice to new riders is to think about how to use their new time? “Driving time is lost time,” he explains. “Time on the bus can be newly available time.”
“I would say, with current technology, you can do almost anything on the bus!”
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Apply to the Balanced You Worksite Fund
How do you want to be healthy and well at work? A new program has just launched to help you and your coworkers bring your own innovative ideas and solutions to life – The Balanced You Worksite Fund!
When you apply for a Worksite Fund grant, 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 10-30 projects across County agencies to improve health and well-being in our worksites. Grants of 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!
The Balanced You Worksite Fund is one more way we’re Investing in YOU and helping to make King County a place where you are supported to learn, innovate, and do your best work for our community. Apply today! Learn more and download Balanced You Worksite Fund application materials here. Applications are due by noon, July 30.
Bring your coworkers together to create positive, healthy change in your worksite – we look forward to seeing your innovative ideas! Contact the Balanced You team at 206-263-9626 or BalancedYou@KingCounty.gov with questions.
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Kudos! to Metro driver Michael Mackay
Zachary Cohn @ZacharyCohn gave props on Twitter Friday to one of our many great Metro drivers, after being impressed with how Michael Mackay avoided a potential accident:
Props to @kcmetrobus driver of e line bus 6202 today at 1150. someone pulled out in front of him on Aurora. He slammed on the brakes, leaned on the horn, expertly avoided an accident, then calmly reached for the radio to apologize for the inconvenience and ensure riders were ok.
Thank you, Zachary Cohn, and Kudos, Michael!
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Happy Tails: Macy
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
Like Happy Tails? We sure do! Here’s one from Kayla about her new addition, Maci.
My boyfriend and I adopted [her last week]. I believe she is 3 or 4 months now! She is literally the cutest thing ever! We are totally head over heels for her and our hearts can’t get any fuller!
She has learned where the toilet is and likes to drink the water so we’re trying to teach her to drink out of her water bowl now!
Thanks Regional Animal Services of King County! We found Maci and we are completely in love with her!
Thanks for adopting, Kayla… and be sure to keep that toilet lid down.
Employee News 