Kudos! Courteous Metro Transit driver provides outstanding customer service
The following kudos was received June 12 and is from a King County Metro rider:
Driving a bus is not an easy job with the traffic, so when you encounter a driver who goes beyond the job it needs to be acknowledged.
So with that in mind I would like to bring to your attention the driver [Andrea Abbott] I had this afternoon who not only drove the bus in a safe and efficient manner but also provided the kind of customer service you like to receive; each passenger was greeted as they boarded with a smile and an hello and she made you very welcome; a couple of passengers including myself has several questions on the reroute that is currently on the # 372 and she answered those questions to our satisfaction.
She represents Metro Transit in a very professional manner and I would like to acknowledge that.
Kudos to Metro operator Andrea Abbott for providing riders with a professional, courteous transit experience!
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Five free apps to conquer your emergency preparedness procrastination
Crossposted from Public Health Insider
If you’re like me, you’ve been reading the coverage of the hurricanes and feeling like you should do something to be prepared for disasters. Preparing for an emergency sounds like a huge task and I didn’t know where to start. But, since it is National Preparedness Month, I want to share some apps that helped me ease into preparing for an emergency and overcome the anxiety of thinking about the next disaster. These apps are easy to use, intuitive, and great resources for before, during, and after an emergency. Here are five apps that helped me prepare, plus a bonus app to help kids start to understand emergency preparedness.
App #1: Emergency by the American Red Cross
This app has information related to all different kinds of emergencies, including ones we are concerned about here in the Northwest, like earthquakes, power outages, extreme heat, wildfires, and floods. In the “emergency toolkit,” there is a messaging system to alert loved ones that you’re safe.
Read more at Public Health Insider
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Pop Up Shop a great success in reducing surplus material
Last month King County’s Surplus Program opened a Pop Up Shop led by Fleet Administration Intern, Kyle Wallinder. The Pop Up Shop offered smaller items such as office supplies and was created to eliminate the inconvenience of traveling to and from the surplus warehouse at 707 S Orcas Street. Located across from the Administration building on the second floor of the 420 4th Ave building, the shop was geared toward King County employees in the Seattle core. On Tuesday, August 22, 2017, and Thursday, August 24, 2017, the shop was open between 10 a.m. to noon. The shop was stocked with office supplies and equipment available for King County employees to use for work or to improve their workspaces. All items were free of charge.
Between the two days the shop was open, it welcomed 184 employee visitors. Ninety-three of those employees claimed items, resulting in 202 items being redistributed within the County. By pricing items from Keeney’s Office Supply catalog, it was calculated that the County saved over $4,750 by redistributing supplies as opposed to buying new. Ultimately the shop was highly successful in reducing the amount of surplus material going unused and emphasized our mission to make the landfill a last resort in the disposal of surplus county property.
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Featured Job: Family Planning Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner
Closing date/time: Continuous
Salary: $38.61 – $54.34 Hourly
Job type: Career Service
Location: Kent Public Health at East Hill, Washington
Department: Department of Public Health–Community Health Services
The Kent Public Health Family Planning Clinic is looking for a skilled, motivated and enthusiastic ARNP who is committed to serving men, women and teens to provide high quality sexual and reproductive health and education services.
Family Planning ARNP’s work with a multi-disciplinary health care team to provide care and treatment in various clinics.
The ARNP works in the ambulatory care setting integrating knowledge and data from many scientific frameworks to provide care to individuals on an independent basis. The ARNP body of work is distinguished from other nursing classifications in that the incumbent is responsible for medical management of health conditions including prescribing and dispensing medications. Additionally, the incumbent will be working in Family Planning and STD (male and female).
Contact: For questions, please contact Amy Curtis, Nursing Recruiter. She can be reached at amy.curtis@kingcounty.gov or at (206) 263-8358.
Learn more about this position, or view all available jobs.
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Get involved with the Employee Giving Program
Interested in getting involved with the community? Consider being a part of the Employee Giving Program (EGP)!
From sitting on the EGP Committee to becoming an Ambassador, there’s at least five important reasons why you should consider this opportunity.
With the Annual Giving Drive just around the corner, for those interested in becoming an Ambassador, the training program kicks off next week.
Sign up soon as seats are quickly being filled! Find more information here.
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Mentors needed! Employees encouraged to apply
Do you have a specific job or technical skill you’d like to share? Are you passionate about King County and its success? Are you an experienced leader that understands the thrill of engaging and empowering others? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, we need you.
The request for mentors has been very high, and we need a large pool of mentors to meet those requests. You don’t need to be a manager to be a mentor, just knowledge and expertise in a particular skill and an interest in sharing.
Help us create a vibrant, effective learning culture here at King County. Consider contributing your time and skills as a mentor. One hour. Once a month. That’s all it takes to impact someone else’s life.
Intrigued? Contact KCMentoring@KingCounty.gov today.
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King County Executive announces new grant opportunities for unincorporated area projects
King County Executive Dow Constantine today announced the availability of Community Service Area grant funding for a wide variety of educational, cultural and environmental projects that will benefit residents of unincorporated areas.
“Community Service Area grants help people share in local art, enhance our forests and green spaces, and connect with neighbors young and old,” said Executive Constantine. “We are proud to support the youth and senior projects, movie and music nights, and neighborhood gatherings that help make King County such a great place to call home.”
A total of $90,000 in King County Community Service Area Program grant funding is available for projects costing less than $5,000.
Previous grant funding for projects benefiting unincorporated King County residents have included vegetation restoration and enhancement projects, free summertime concerts, community clean-up events and clubhouse exterior remodels in public areas.
Read more in the official press release.
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RESCHEDULED: End-of-Summer Countywide Potluck, new date Thursday, Sept. 28
In order to be inclusive and support the County’s Equity and Social Justice goals to allow for observance of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, FMD have rescheduled the End-of-Summer Countywide Potluck to take place Thursday, September 28.
Please join us on the Admin Plaza from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Volunteers are needed to bring a dish to share. Contact Nancy Kodani-Lee at 7-8012 or Julie Long at 7-0204 to let us know what you’ll bring.
There will also be a Table Tennis Tournament during the Potluck. Sign up with Jane Wu at 3-8523.
Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you on the 28.
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King County controls a new noxious weed!
Crossposted from Noxious Weeds Blog
It’s not every day you find a new noxious weed in your county, but this August King County had one of those days. On Aug. 15, our program was alerted to an infestation of the Class A noxious weed ricefield bulrush (Schoenoplectus mucronatus) growing in a wetland just east of Redmond. Sean Davis with Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Clark County helped confirm the ID of the species. Prior to this discovery, the main known location of this plant in Washington state had been in the Ridgefield refuge, along with a few other populations in southwest Washington, such as Beacon Rock in Skamania County and Whipple Creek (part of Salmon Creek) in Clark County.
On Aug. 16, Aquatic Lands Specialist Ben Peterson, County Lands Specialist Roy Brunskill, Regional Weed Specialist Patrick Sowers, and Riparian Projects Team Member Kirk Massee visited the site to control the infestation.
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Survey communications: Asking questions, acting on what we hear
When you ask someone for their feedback on something, you’d better have a plan for how you are going to act on that feedback.
That’s exactly what King County has done with its annual employee survey. Almost 340 action plans were created to act on the issues you said were important in the 2016 survey.
Two critical issues you raised were Career Opportunities and Leadership Visibility. Here are some of the ways that we acted on your responses:
Career Opportunities
- Expanded the Bridge Fellowship program to provide leadership and development opportunities to more employees.
- Created an intensive leadership training program to help managers and supervisors support their employees to do their best work.
Leadership Visibility
- Executive Constantine has launched quarterly listening sessions with employees, met with employees on site visits, and continued his employee video messages.
- Multiple departments have worked to improve communications channels and build understanding of division and department priorities.
The 2017 King County Employee Survey will open Monday, Sept. 18, running until Friday, Oct. 6, and distribution of paper surveys will start Monday, Sept. 11, to Friday, Oct. 6, for employees without email. Superior Court, District Court and the Sheriff’s Office are not participating in this year’s countywide survey. All employees are eligible to take the survey except Short Term Temps, interns or those who started before August 25, 2017.
The annual Employee Survey is part of our Investing in You efforts. See all the employee survey responses here (intranet).
Employee News 