Crossposted from King County DES Express

King County will become a national leader in supporting LGBT-owned small businesses under an inclusive policy announced by Executive Dow Constantine.

King County will become the largest county in the United States to track the number of contracts that are awarded to LGBT entrepreneurs, an approach that has dramatically increased the number and value of contracts awarded to local small businesses owned by women, people of color, and people who are disadvantaged during Executive Constantine’s administration.

Read more at the DES Express

Meredith Li-Vollmer on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2016. Meredith is a risk communications specialist at Public Health – Seattle & King County.

Crossposted from Public Health Insider

I’m at a conference, and I just saw a T-Rex wearing a Supergirl backpack trot by.  Clearly, I’m not at the CDC (otherwise, Dr. Tom Friedan has a hobby that no one knows about). I’m at San Diego Comic-Con, the premiere comics convention in the world, alongside a projected 130,000 other conference attendees. So what’s a public health professional doing here?

I spoke on a panel called “Comics and health: Saving lives and preventing disease” as part of the Comics Arts academic conference associated with Comic-Con. Our panel shared exciting work that demonstrates the value of the comics medium in conveying health information, part of a growing discipline of “graphic medicine.”

Read more at Public Health Insider

Sheriff Urquhart talks with host Enrique Cerna about building bridges to communities of color. He speaks about protecting the public, the need for collaboration between law enforcement and the community, and the impact of the recent shootings in Dallas, TX, Minnesota and Baton Rouge, LA.

Interviewer Enrique Cerna gets to the heart of the Sheriff’s emotions about building trust, listening and better serving the community through diverse hiring.

“There is an expectation, the community expects us to keep them safe, and we expect and work to keep them safe. The problem that we have is the lack of trust in the community… but that’s not their problem. That’s not their challenge. That’s my challenge. That’s my challenge, to build that trust with those communities. We are trying to do that, and frankly I think we’re doing a good job of working in that direction but we’re not there yet.”

View the entire interview below.

The King County Archives and Records Center buildings do not normally attract attention.  First time visitors will comment that they’d drive by (or some even live or work nearby) but had never known we were here!

On July 30, the Archives and Records Center walls facing Fir Street and the parking lot will be decorated with the results of a day-long graffiti contest, held for young graffiti artists from around the Northwest.

The event is from 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and is open to the public. People are welcome to drop by to view the artists at work. We ask that people do not drive into the parking lot for the safety of the artists. The King County Archives and Records Center is located at 1215 East Fir Street, Seattle, WA 98122.

The event is being led by local artist Andrew Morrison, known for his Indian Heritage murals at the Wilson Pacific School in North Seattle and other local work, including a new interior mural underway at Seattle University. Morrison is about to leave Seattle to study at the Maryland Institute College of Art, but before leaving the region, he wanted to hold an event for local youth and artists. The contest is being coordinated in collaboration with 206 Zulu director Daniel Kogita AKA King Khazm. 206 Zulu’s office is at Washington Hall, just down the block from the Archives and Records Center facility, and will serve as the administrative base for the event. Morrison is donating the prize money himself.

Archives and Records Center staff are excited to be able to provide a blank canvas to youth, to support the arts, to work with our neighbors at Washington Hall, and, not least, to see something besides cloud-colored walls when we come to work.

Christopher Young, Facilities Management Division Real Property Agent, is coordinating the event. Contact him for more information at christopher.young@kingcounty.gov.

Above, Indian Heritage murals at Seattle’s Wilson Pacific School, painted by local artist Andrew Morrison, who is leading the graffiti contest for youth. Image courtesy of http://www.andrewmorrison.org.

A team of 12 King County employees found their ‘inner wild’ and conquered 200-ish miles of relay running through the Northwest Passage July 15-16 in the Reebok Ragnar Northwest Passage Relay.

A week after supporting his children’s high school team during the 2015 relay, Al Dams, Chief Deputy Assessor, pitched the idea of forming a King County team for the 2016 Ragnar during a regular lunch-time run with his fellow King County Running Club members. A year later, after recruiting nearly 20 runners to ultimately field a team of 12, the King County team not only participated in the Ragnar, but placed 32^nd of 523 teams – and second in the “Corporate / Public Service” division – with a time of 26 hours and 25 minutes. When asked what the most rewarding aspect of the event was, Al said, “Being part of a great team, and just escaping into Ragnar …for 30 hours, the only thing on your mind is Ragnar!”

The team members each ran three legs of the relay that began near the Canadian border in Blaine and ended in Langley on Whidbey Island. Along the way, the team enjoyed the views of the Cascade and Olympic ranges, the quaintness of towns like Bellingham and Anacortes, and the bridge in Deception Pass State Park. The average distance covered by each runner was 16 1/3 miles, with an average pace approaching 8 minutes. Three team members covered more than 20 miles each. Al said the most challenging part of the event was the mental aspect of running three legs. “If you run a half marathon, you run and then you are done. In the Ragnar, you run, then you rest for a bit, then you get out of the van and do it again – twice!”

The King County team will host an employee informational session in preparation for the 2017 event in room 560 of the Administration Building (500 Fourth Avenue) August 17 from noon to 1 p.m. The team is looking to maintain the current team, and possibly form more teams, which could either allow placement in different divisions, or simply allow for competitive teams and not-so-competitive teams. “We know other County employees took part in Ragnar because we saw them on the course,” Al said. “Maybe they would switch to a King County team for next year’s relay.” The teams are self-sponsored (no taxpayer funds are used).

For more information about the King County Ragnar team, stop by the employee informational session or contact Al Dams at Al.Dams@KingCounty.gov. If you are interested in the King County Running Club, contact Seth Watson at Seth.Watson@KingCounty.gov. To learn more about the Reebok Ragnar Northwest Passage Relay, visit the official Ragnar site.

The medals won by the King County Ragnarians for placing 2nd in the “Corporate / Public Service” division.

Getting into the spirit by decorating the car!

Al Dams, Chief Deputy Assessor

Back Row: Matt Kuharic (DNRP) Kevin Brown (Parks) Tom Koney (DES Director’s Office) John Villapudua (Parks) Dave White (Water & Land Resources division) Ken Guy (FBOD) Front Row: Mike Sinsky (Prosecuting Attorney) Seth Watson (HRD/Office of the Exec) Josh Marx (Solid Waste division) Al Dams, Captain (Assessor, Chief Deputy Assessor) Andrew Fraser (King County citizen) Libby Charhon Page (Public Health)