Five Questions with Robin Fenton, Chief of Technical Services, King County Sheriff’s Office
What was your first role at King County? Upon completing the police academy, I was assigned to the SW precinct as a patrol officer. I was in a marked patrol car dealing with calls for service in the unincorporated area of King county. Loved that assignment. Everything was new and exciting. I worked with wonderful people and had many eye opening experiences.- Why did you choose law enforcement as a career? I initially entered college with the thought of becoming a dispatcher. It was during my criminal justice classes, that I changed my focus and decided to pursue a career as a police officer. The King County Police Department recruiter at the time came to our college and encouraged us to apply. I took the exam, and was very fortunate to get hired one month after I turned 21. Thirty-four years later I still love my job and feel very fortunate not only for the career, but for landing in such a wonderful agency. I always knew that I wanted to work in a profession where I could help others and make a difference. The King County Sheriff’s Office has given me numerous opportunities to do both. Read More
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2015 MLK Celebration focused on voting rights
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed not possessing the right to vote was similar to enslavement.
“[A right to vote] enables all Americans, most especially those who have been denied other rights, to participate fully in their community, this country and our world,” said Maria Gitin, the Keynote speaker at King County’s 28th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, held on Thursday, January 15, at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.
Gitin joined the civil rights movement in 1965 at the age of 19 to work for the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) to help register African American voters in Wilcox, Alabama.
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Employee Assistance Program is there to help you
Pay Wyss (left) and Tony Hansen from King County’s Employee Assistance Program
Sometimes workplace issues get to us. Whether it’s stress, a performance issue, conflict with a coworker or any other type of workplace problem, the Employee Assistance Program is there for all King County employees to use.
“We’re on-site, in-house. We’re here for you to deal with work issues,” said Tony Hansen, one of the County’s EAP councilors along with Pam Wyss. “We know the internal resources that we can guide you to and we can help facilitate.”
EAP is an in-house resource available to all King County employees that offers tangible strategies and useful resources to resolve workplace problems.
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Fleet and Radio Communication teams patch things up—in more ways than one
When two teams work closely together for a long time, relations sometimes become challenging as staff and technologies change. This in turn can affect productivity, quality, efficiency, and customer service.
That’s exactly what happened between the Department of Transportation’s Fleet Administration and King County Information Technology’s Radio Communication Services (RCS).
Both RCS and Fleet work on County vehicles, including all Sheriff’s Office vehicles. RCS is primarily responsible for installing radios and hooking up lighting, and Fleet is responsible for maintaining the vehicles and installing additional add-ons required by the Sheriff’s Office.
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WTD’s ‘Bright Ideas’ employee idea program successful second year
This fall, Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) celebrated the two-year anniversary of its Bright Ideas program which encourages employees to submit their ideas for efficiencies and continuous improvement through an online tool.
Since the program started, almost 700 ideas to create a more efficient, productive workplace were submitted – which indicates a solid level of interest and engagement in the program among employees. Approved ideas have created notable improvements in many areas, such as: streamlined processes for customers; money-saving approaches to maintenance; solutions to equipment issues; and better communication with people from the public.
WTD Division Director Pam Elardo announced employee recognition awards for especially creative or impactful ideas (as voted on by an employee committee) at a series of All Hands meetings in November-December 2014. Individuals with winning ideas (or who have made considerable contributions of time to the program) were awarded Bright Ideas ‘brag swag’ items such as stickers, idea notebooks, and water bottles. WTD’s director’s office will continue to recognize employees for contributing ideas and utilize internal communications tools (posters, emails, articles in newsletters) to maintain employee interest and engagement into the future.
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Volunteering is personal for this employee
Peggy Harris had always volunteered, but 15 years ago her volunteering became more personal.
After her grandson was diagnosed at birth with Isolaveric Acidemia, a rare genetic disorder, Harris joined Washington State’s Newborn Screening Advisory Committee, a committee that advocates for certain tests performed at birth to detect treatable genetic diseases.
“At that time my grandson’s disorder was not tested for in Washington State, so I became very active in that committee,” Harris said.
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Camping cargo container article is most viewed in 2014
Parks, recycling and camping proved to be an intriguing combination for King County employees and residents who made an article about a cargo container that was “upcycled” into a camping accommodation the most-read King County employee news story in 2014.
The article “Parks upcycles cargo container for use by campers” received 2,529 views, more than twice as many as the second-most read article, “Former Marine finds new way to serve community,” which was read more than 1,000 times. Coming in third was an article about Dan Johnson, a Systems Engineer with King County’s Department of Information Technology, and his guide dog Faber, which was read almost 800 times.
View a slideshow of the top 10 employee news stories for 2014 here.
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‘Tough Love’ shows how a treatment court can help struggling parents change their lives
Filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal wanted to give voice to a group of people who rarely have one — parents who have lost their children to the state welfare system because of alleged neglect or abuse. What resulted is a powerful new documentary – at times tender, at other times raw – that offers an intimate glimpse into the child welfare system.
Called “Tough Love,” the 83-minute film profiles two parents in two different parts of the country struggling to put their lives back together and to prove to court and state officials that they should be reunited with their children. It has particular meaning to people in King County. One of the parents profiled is a quiet, sturdy man named Patrick Brown, a North Bend resident who lost his daughter due to neglect and then went through a rigorous, two-year program at the King County Family Treatment Court to get her back. He was represented by two county public defenders, Alena Ciecko and Patricia Penn.
The film played to a nearly packed house at the SIFF Uptown Theater in September, a screening that drew judges, public defenders, employees from the Family Treatment Court and others to the Queen Anne theater. A panel discussion that included both Brown and Ciecko followed.
A panel discussion followed the screening of “Tough Love” at the Uptown. From left are Patrick Brown, Alena Ciecko, Judge Julia Garratt and Judge Patricia Clark. Photo by Leslie Brown.
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RCECC takes lead in emergency response coordination, but we all have a role to play
King County’s Regional Communication and Emergency Coordination Center (RCECC) is the nerve center for disaster preparedness and emergency response planning in and around our region.
“We’re set up to coordinate response and recovery efforts during a local emergency or disaster,” Lynne Miller, the Public Information Officer for King County Office of Emergency Management (KCOEM), said.
The RCECC, housed in a building able to withstand major earthquakes, serves as a coordination hub for situational awareness, strategic planning, resource management, and public information.
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WTD Bright Ideas winner and finalists in the WEF Operations Ingenuity Contest
The Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) “Bright Ideas” program is a system for continuous improvement through employee ideas. Employees can submit and track their ideas through an online tool.
This year, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international wastewater industry leader, awarded Stanley Caberto, master industrial maintenance mechanic, the “Gadget Guru Award for Resourcefulness” for three inventions he created that help keep vital facilities running smoothly.
Also included in the Ingenuity contest as finalists who found “an imaginative, inventive and resourceful solution to a pesky problem”: 1) WTD’s branding team who developed the “Protecting Our Waters: Doing Our Part on Rainy Days” campaign for our combined sewer overflow (CSO) program to improve how we teach people about CSOs; and 2) Annie Kolb-Nelson, communications and media relations specialist, for her work leading the development of the “Flushing Awesome” campaign which teaches people what not to flush.
Employee News 