Second Pet Adoption Center opens in Kirkland
From left: Gregory Surface, District Manager, Petco; Dr. Gene Mueller, Manager, Regional Animal Services of King County; Petco mascots Blue Mews and Red Ruff; King County Executive Dow Constantine; Kirkland Councilmember Shelley Kloba
On June 13, Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) opened a second Pet Adoption Center. The new Eastside facility is located inside the Kirkland Petco. Since the grand opening, about 50 pets have been adopted from the Eastside center.
“This translates to a quarter of our total adoptions during this time period,” said RASKC Operational Manager, Glynis Frederiksen.
Seven years ago, only 45 percent of animals in King County shelters were being adopted or returned to their homes. Now the rate of adoption or return in King County is 85 percent.
Last summer, the Pet Adoption Center in Kent took part in the ASPCA $100K Challenge, competing with other shelters around the nation to promote pet adoptions. As a result of the Challenge, RASKC received a grant from ASPCA.
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Kudos! Patti Gravel, Customer Service Specialist, DCHS
Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) Education and Employment Resources employee, Patti Gravel is the first face that job seekers see when entering WorkSource Renton and she always greets them with a warm smile and a “how can I help you today?” Our unemployed job seekers appreciate Patti’s warmth and caring and she is a customer service champion for both job seekers and the staff at WorkSource Renton. She is always pleasant and helpful when staff needs anything from booking a room to directions within the Center.
Job seekers find her equally helpful and kind as she navigates both the customer service desk and often, the resource room to help a customer print their resume or put some paper in the copier. Patti is known for personal and “high touch” customer service, including remembering customers’ names to help facilitate their requests. Whatever the need, Patti is always there with a smile and this level of customer service contributes to the excellent reputation that WorkSource has in the community. Patti was a member of the WorkSource Renton customer service team that was recognized for “best practice in customer service” on behalf of the Seattle King County WorkSource Operator Consortium in 2011.Patti has worked for King County for 18 years, and at the front desk in Education and Employment Resources for 6 years, and we are so pleased to work with her. Thank you Patti! – Martine Kaiser, DCHS
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Kudos! King County earns national award for innovative program
King County has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The awards honor top county government programs that are innovative and enhance services for their residents.
NACo recognized King County’s eAppeals – Online Property Assessment Appeals Program for its 2014 Achievement Award in the category of Information Technology. eAppeals allows property owners to file an appeal of their property valuation on-line. eAppeals users can compare the valuations of comparable properties, forecast potential tax savings and submit evidence to support their appeal digitally as part of the online appeal process. The online process provides in-depth property information 24/7 while saving time and resources for property owners and the County.
“I would like to congratulate the eAppeal team comprised of the Assessor’s Office, King County Information Technology, the Board of Equalization, and the Tax Advisor on their hard work and collaboration on this project,” said King County Assessor Lloyd Hara. “With 30% of appeals coming via eAppeals in the launch year, the adoption rate by the public has greatly exceeded our initial expectations and reflects the overall trend of moving public data to online platforms”
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Five Questions with Lisa Hillman, IT Service Delivery Manager, KCIT
1. What was your first role at King County? Public Health MIS Desktop Manager. I came to King County in June 2003 as a contract employee to temporarily backfill a departing MIS IT desktop manager (PCSA Manager) plus kick-start the Windows 98 to XP migration. Never working in public service, I didn’t plan on staying with the County beyond the contracted 910 hours however; I was instantly attracted to the mission, the people and the potential to make a difference.
2. What do you do as an IT SDM? It’s fun, diverse and an action packed role. I support Public Health, and often times other County departments, by guiding and delivering innovative IT services through a standardized and unified approach. I get to work closely with project teams, align strategy and security with daily operations – as well as work on increasing our web services, reporting, analytics, and metrics. Technology is a rapidly expanding area of opportunity and I strive to remove barriers for our technical and business teams while supplying the right tools to meet needs. Now that KCIT has a proven and effective service model and catalog, the role of the IT Service Delivery Manager(s) is even more important in the partnership with our customers on the delivery of IT.
3. What do you like most about your job? The people! Never have I seen a workforce with as much passion, commitment and desire to serve, as those here at King County.
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Working to combat homelessness in King County
Making homelessness in King County a rare event, and when it does occur, a brief and one-time experience, is the mission of the Committee to End Homelessness (CEH) King County, and its latest annual report details how it will achieve these goals.
King County now has the third largest stock of homeless housing in the country, behind only New York City and Los Angeles, and yet on a single night, January 14, 2014, more than 3,123 individuals were living outside and another 6,171 individuals were in shelters or transitional housing, per the One Night Count conducted by the Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless. 
Comprising government, philanthropic organizations, faith-based groups, non-profits, and individual community advocates, and co-chaired by King County Executive Dow Constantine, the CEH outlined its strategies for making homelessness in King County rare, brief and a one-time experience in its 2013 annual report:
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Native Plant Salvage Program promotes financial and environmental sustainability
A small team of King County employees and many volunteers are making sure that native plants that would be impacted by development projects are finding new homes in revegetation and habitat restoration projects across the county.
This season alone, 11,260 native plants were salvaged for the Water and Land Resource Division’s Native Plant Salvage Program.
“The cool thing about this is that plants get used all over King County and not just on County-sponsored projects,” said Cindy Young, the ecologist who heads up the program. Volunteers also get to salvage plants for their own restoration projects or homes. Read More
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S.N.A.C. helps families and kids to eat fresh and healthy
Credit: King 5 Evening Magazine
According to Elizabeth Kimball from Public Health – Seattle & King County, the key to teaching nutrition is to teach about the origin of food.
“When you’re teaching nutrition it’s very hard to talk about nutrition without talking about food – eating food, tasting food and preparing, storing and packing food — all the logistics and practical elements of eating,” Kimball said.
Kimball heads up Public Health’s Seattle Nutrition Action Consortium, or S.N.A.C. program.
“One of the hallmarks of S.N.A.C. is all of our various projects include cooking, which I think is very unique and important,” Kimball said.
S.N.A.C.’s mission is “to improve the health and nutritional well-being of limited income families with children in Seattle and King County. S.N.A.C. promotes the good taste of healthy food.” Read More
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Kudos! Jack Millman, Metro Transit Operator
I just wanted to write in and say that this bus driver totally made my night last week! I sometimes am nervous taking the bus this late at night by myself, but his friendly attitude greeting everyone as they came on the bus instantly put me at ease. He was joking and commenting about different locations along the route and made everyone smile. I wish I had caught his name, but hopefully you can pass along the note that I appreciated his friendly attitude. – K. Renee
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Sheriff’s Marine Unit keeping local waters safe
Sergeant Jim Knauss and his unit of four deputies have a mission: to make sure boaters have a good time, but do so safely.
“We’re out here every day, we’re out patrolling. We have at least two boats out and we’re looking for things that aren’t safe,” Knauss said in a recent story produced by King County TV.
The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine and Dive Unit patrols eight contract cities and the unincorporated parts of King County, including water around Vashon Island, and in front of Shoreline and Burien. They also patrol 250 miles of river.
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DPD volunteers help former defendants get juvenile records sealed
Nearly once a month, three Department of Public Defense employees give over an evening to help adults struggling with the long-lasting repercussions of mistakes they made as teenagers. Some of the people who show up at the free legal clinic can’t get a job; others are denied housing; still others get by-passed for graduate school – all because of a criminal record from their days as a youth.
The DPD employees – Kari Boyum, an attorney, Matthew Pang, also an attorney, and Ryan Gray, an investigator – work with law students and other legal professionals at the monthly clinic held at one of DPD’s offices. Their job is to help people navigate a complex legal process, enabling them to petition the court to get their juvenile records sealed. All of those who work at the clinic are volunteers.
The Juvenile Record Sealing Project began in 2004, launched by George Yeannakis, now special counsel to TeamChild, and Kim Ambrose, a law professor at the University of Washington, under the auspices of Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington (SYLAW). Today, a decade later, Yeannakis estimates the clinic has helped at least 500 clients seal around 1,000 records. It’s now managed by TeamChild.
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