Op-ed: Our antiquated tax system can be changed and made fair for all
In a joint Seattle Times op-ed with King County Assessor John Wilson, Executive Constantine calls on the Legislature to create a fairer tax system. Here is an excerpt:
“Hiking property taxes in Democratic King County was the former Republican state Senate majority’s parting gift — a neat solution to addressing the Supreme Court’s order to better fund schools statewide. While next year the taxes may actually decrease in other areas of the state, higher property values in King County mean that won’t be the case for most of our region’s homeowners. But, with Democrats now in control of the state Senate, the Legislature can enact fairer and more responsible tax options.”
Read more at The Seattle Times. Image courtesy of The Seattle Times.
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Public Health program provides education for caregivers, opportunities to succeed for children
Pictured: A caretaker with child.
Promoting the health and development of children, families and child care staff is a priority for King County. Multiple programs are dedicated to healthy and safe environments for children to ensure their education and well-being. One standout program is the Child Care Health Program within Public Health.
The program includes a team of public health nurses, a dietician, mental health consultants and a community health worker who delivers Child Care Health Consultations (CCHC) to child care providers throughout the community. This team has been providing these CCHC services in King County for over 30 years.
“In my work I can help to impact the optimal growth and development of our county’s youngest citizens,” said Sara Rigel, Program Manager for Child Care health. “We can also help with early identification of children with special health or behavioral needs and help kids get on track towards early success in life.”
Sarah has been with the county since 2012. She oversees two units in the Community Health Services Division at Public Health, the Child Care Health program and the School Based Partnerships team. She supervises both teams and ensures that work is carried out directly in the community or through a network of partner providers.
The Child Care Health Program services include everything from consultation and technical assistance for developing child care programs and education for child care providers to classroom observations to identify children at risk and collaboration or referral to other regional programs.
Pictured: Ellen Flamiatos, a public health child care health consultation nurse.
“So many of the young children in our county spend the majority of their days with a caregiver other than their parent,” said Sara. “There is great opportunity to support those caregivers and the children where they spend their time.”
Like other CCHC based programs nationwide, Public Health follows best practices set out in Caring for Our Children, the commonly-accepted standards and best practice guidelines created and maintained by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association. The practice of integrating CCHC into child care settings is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to ensure that complex health concerns, such as determining safe sleep policies, developing care plans for children with chronic medical conditions, or responding to infectious disease outbreaks, are informed by health care professionals.
The work of the Child Care Health Program to meet the needs of children, families and their caregivers can be challenging at times. Sara explains that by implementing these CCHC policies in their work the team is able to build strong, trusting relationships with the community, and share health and development expertise, strategies to ensure injury prevention, assessments of child health needs, infant-family mental health support, and connections to community resources.
“The youngest people in King County are among our most vulnerable,” Sara said. “We have a great opportunity to intervene early and provide children with a safe and healthy care environment in which they will thrive.”
“Quality early learning contributes to long term academic success and the opportunity to have a fulfilling adulthood. “
For more information, visit the Public Health Child Care Health Program website.
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Interview with Titus Chembukha, Data Resource Quality Specialist
Shared from the DCHS Touching Base Newsletter
What do you do in the Department of Community and Human Services?
I am the Data Resource Quality Specialist for DCHS. I work with a range of internal and external stakeholders to improve the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) data resources and lead division efforts to increase the value of mental health, substance use disorder and prevention services data to end users. I provide technical expertise on all aspects of data resources to the department, division and contracted providers. I develop reports for analysis, evaluation and program planning. On a day to day basis if I am not responding to data requests from stakeholders, identifying data quality issues or initiating new programs in our system, I will be having conversations with my colleagues on how to improve our data systems. Currently DCHS is working on various data integration projects as we move towards DCHS-PH data integration.
What’s something about yourself that people may not know?
I was born by the Kenyan Coast close to the beautiful beaches of the Indian Ocean. Every Sunday after the service I would find myself swimming in the ocean or playing some water games. This changed after I joined a boarding high school over 600 miles away from home. I found myself changing hobbies from swimming to playing chess, Scrabble, soccer and rugby. While in high school I participated in the Inter house Rugby competition in which our house won. Currently I am married with three boys and mostly watch basketball and soccer premier league games.
To learn more about what DCHS is doing in our community, read the most recent issue of the Touching Base Newsletter (on SharePoint).
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Published author, scientist, and volunteer: DNRP employee does it all
Water and Land Resource Division (WLRD) Ecologist Laura Hartema makes her debut as a published author after transforming her fading journal entries into a book, Bering Sea Strong: How I Found Solid Ground on Open Ocean.
Laura’s journal entries from her time aboard a Bering Sea catcher-processor vessel manifested into a book that shares how she used her at-sea experience to find solace from her past and harness the strength to pursue a rewarding career and a better life. “I started the book years after I returned from sea; I didn’t know how to write a book, I just started,” Laura said. “The key is to push yourself beyond your circumstances to test that threshold. We are all stronger and more capable than we know. Well, I went to sea and found out.”
Laura’s contribution to sustainability has not stopped on catcher-processor vessels. For over 20 years, she’s been committed to restoring and monitoring King County’s streams, wetlands and their buffers. Concurrently, Laura has spent nearly two decades volunteering her time as the Director of Friends of Des Moines, and was recently presented with the Des Moines Legacy Foundation LEGACY Award 2017 for her work in habitat restoration.
“I don’t volunteer for praise, or pay, or credit, but I admit it feels good to be recognized for my leadership for nearly 20 years of community service,” Laura said. “It takes a little leadership and, at times, a push to accomplish great things, but the Des Moines Parks department has supported my efforts. It’s special to gather and work hard with a group of strangers for a common good.”
Laura’s personal and professional work are a testament that every individual has something to offer their community and neighbors. “‘Think globally and act locally’ is what I do,” Laura said.
You can find out more about Laura, her book Bering Sea Strong and upcoming events, and sign up to receive her Love This Day blog posts at www.laurahartema.com. Her book’s release date is March 13, and is now available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and IndieBooks. It may also be found in your local bookstore.
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Kudos! Wastewater Treatment Division highlighted in recent articles for its accomplishments!
The King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) was recently featured in three local news articles.
- The Renton Reporter shared a press release on Puget Sound Energy’s $894,000 grant to fund a pump replacement project at South Plant. Read more here.
- The Daily Journal of Commerce did an article on the Barton Roadside Rain Garden project in West Seattle and the 2018 ACEC Engineering Excellence Award it earned. Read more here.
- Suzanne Potts, a Laboratory Specialist at South Plant, was featured in a profile piece in Treatment Plant Operator magazine. Read more here.
Kudos to WTD and its employees for their accomplishments and recognition!
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Film from King County Sheriff’s Bundy investigation files digitized for major network documentary
In January, the King County Archives provided material for use in a new major network documentary about serial killer Ted Bundy. Among the King County Sheriff’s Office investigation files are three reels of 16mm film taken using a home movie camera. The Archives received assistance from colleagues at the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections to digitize these films.
The films are of a Rainier Brewery picnic at Lake Sammamish July 14, 1974, on the day that Bundy abducted two woman from the beach in broad daylight. The first film shows the picnic taking place, and the second and third show police at the picnic site, with crowds standing around, apparently aware of the news.
The footage was also recently shown as part of an archives film screening hosted by the Moving Image Preservation of the Puget Sound (MIPoPS) at the Northwest Film Forum. This highlights rare films digitized by local heritage institutions.
KIRO 7 news also picked up the footage for a short segment, which can be viewed here.
Pictured: On the left, important film scenes were marked with string then tape. On the right, a still from the film shows KCSO officers on the scene.
Interestingly, the films had several individual frames flagged with string tied through sprockets as a method of flagging content of interest, presumably by KCSO investigators. In order to play the film but not lose the markings, the string was replaced with tape along the edge, as shown below.
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Mindfulness 2018 class schedule now available
Crossposted from Healthy Incentives
The 2018 schedule for the popular Mindfulness classes is now available. King County is offering Mindfulness classes through Mindfulness Northwest. The classes support and provide relevant information to employees working to reduce stress and improve well-being.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the simple yet powerful ability of the mind to attend more fully to the present moment’s experience. Cultivating mindfulness results in many benefits for mental and physical health, well-being, and happiness. Mindfulness works at the interface between the mind and our experience of our life.
Read more at Healthy Incentives
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Use SeeClickFix to report maintenance issues in our parks!
Crossposted from King County Parks Plog
See a construction issue, a downed tree, or graffiti in our parks? Let us know! King County Parks uses SeeClickFix to track maintenance issues in our parks and we want to hear from you. The process is very easy so just follow these three simple steps:
- See: With 200 parks, 175 miles of trails and 28,000 acres of open space we’ve got a lot to take care of. Snap a picture of a maintenance issues you see in our parks like a broken bridge or litter.
- Click: Report the issue on the SeeClickFix app or website. Simply find the location on the map and select your “issue.” You will need to download the app and create an account.
- Fix: Our crews will respond to your requests and you will be notified via SeeClickFix upon completion.
It’s that simple! See. Click. Fix.
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Metro explores new ways to provide mobility
Crossposted from Metro Matters
Pictured: King County Executive Dow Constantine and community leaders at a Jan. 30 ribbon-cutting for the Des Moines Community Shuttle.
Not everyone who needs transit lives near a bus stop. And not every area has the right mix of infrastructure and housing to support traditional bus service. So Metro is exploring several new ways to connect more people to transit and improve mobility options for customers who need them.
Metro recently launched the Des Moines Community Shuttle/Route 635, in partnership with the City of Des Moines, to connect workers commuting to Des Moines with the Angle Lake light rail station. It is one of the ways Metro is working to connect more people to transit and improve mobility.
The Des Moines Community Shuttle is one of several new mobility solutions now in service or in the works through Metro’s Community Connections program, which is built on partnerships with local communities to meet their unique transportation needs.
Read more at Metro Matters
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Social Media Spotlight: King County Assessor John Wilson Facebook
King County Assessor John Wilson was elected on November 4, 2015, and assumed office on January 1, 2016. The Assessments department strives to deliver excellent customer service, accountability, fair and equitable valuation
Follow the Assessor Wilson on Facebook today.
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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