Crossposted from Expanding the Narrative

I don’t work directly with the public. My customers are people who work in local government. I serve public servants – and it brings me joy and satisfaction.

I’m a Lean consultant. That means I facilitate workshops where people get to step back from their work, name the good they create, figure out ways to measure a product that are meaningful to them, and improve the work itself.

Not long ago, I worked with a team to map their process. When asked, “What is the first thing you do when you start to archive these projects,” the response was “freak out!”

That is not a good place to be.

Read more at Expanding the Narrative

Crossposted from the DES Express blog

The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) has recognized King County with two awards. The first was the Leadership Award for Purchasing Innovation for the County’s new Proterra battery-powered bus fleet, which provides significant cost savings and environmental benefits. The second was an Outstanding Case Study Award for the purchase of liquid petroleum gas vehicles for the county’s fleet.

SPLC is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting green purchasing practices within large institutions. King County’s pair of awards were presented to environmental purchasing manager Karen Hamilton in Washington D.C. at the annual SPLC conference. Congratulations to FBOD’s green purchasing team!

Crossposted from the DES Express blog

Last week, King County hosted the Consortium for Advanced Management International‘s (CAM-I) summer quarter meeting, focusing on “Private and Public Sector Partnerships.” CAM-I is an organization that over the last four decades has developed practical and effective management tools, techniques, and methods to advance the way organizations manage costs, processes, and performance. The event drew participation from employees all across King County, as well as Boeing and the Royal Australian Navy, to name a few. Speakers for the plenary session included Deputy County Executive Fred Jarrett, Bellevue City Manager Brad Miyeke, and John Bernard, author of “Government that Works.” The three day meeting, which consisted of full day workshops, trainings, and a plenary session, took place on the first floor of our Chinook Building. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the CAM-I forum a success!

Just recently we revamped our news site www.kcemployees.com to highlight a fresher, bolder look. Reflecting the same content from the weekly Employee Newsletter, each story on the site now features even more engaging photos, new ways to share via social media and suggested reading tailored to readers’ interests.

We’ve updated the menu options to include sorting stories by topic, connect directly to the official King County website and offer a super helpful “Hot Links” page, with hyperlinks to Employee Discounts, Benefits and Payroll, Emergency Information and additional on-demand employee websites. There’s even a listing of all the blogs associated with King County departments and programs, so you can stay up to date with important King County Headlines.

Want to get all this news, discounts and employee information right to your inbox? Follow the blog to be notified every time a new post is shared, and never miss out on important King County Employee News again.

Stay connected with KC Employee News at www.kcemployees.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr.

Crossposted from KC Emergency News

After more than four days of action simulating a catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the Cascadia Rising exercise has come to an end. More than 20,000 people across the Pacific Northwest took part in the drills, which put emergency response and recovery plans to the ultimate test. King County activated its Emergency Coordination Center, where hundreds of people came together to support the exercise response.

Walt Hubbard, director of King County Emergency Management, says overall he was impressed by Cascadia Rising.

“The level of commitment to the exercise from county departments, our regional partners, the community, and our volunteers was excellent,” Hubbard said. “The level of focus we had, identifying problems and collectively working to find solutions, was a real highlight.”

Now, Hubbard and his team of emergency management professionals will take the lessons learned from Cascadia Rising to further refine and improve King County’s emergency response plans, with a focus on building community resilience.

Hubbard gave a brief statement following the end of exercise activities on Friday, June 10. Video is available below.

Crossposted from Public Health Insider

By Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer

Early on Sunday, June 12th, a lone gunman with a semiautomatic rifle carried out the largest mass shooting in United States history at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing dozens of men and women. Our thoughts, prayers and tears go out to the families and friends of the victims, along with our hope for the quick physical recovery for the many injured, though we know the psychological toll will be long-lasting.

So far in 2016, there have been 136 mass shootings (including those with four victims or more) in the US with over 200 deaths.  Last year, there were over 13,000 deaths from gun violence in the US. King County is not immune from this epidemic of firearm suicides, homicides and unintentional shootings.  Gun violence kills more people each year in King County than car crashes.

This past November, after the Paris terrorist attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, I wrote of the need to recognize gun violence as a public health problem and start to address it accordingly.

Read more at Public Health Insider