Kudos! Congratulation on award for leading healthier lives
On June 10 we celebrated winning the Harvard Innovations Award, awarded to King County for our Healthy Incentives Program. We had a great time remembering all of the things that make this program unique and, for some of our employees, life-saving. The “What’s Your Reason” video that our co-workers put together is just the tip of the kind of creativity that led Harvard to award us this prize. Harvard Professor Stephen Goldsmith, who presented us with the plaque, told us we won not necessarily because we saved money but because we did it in such collaboration and partnership with the unions that represent County staff, and because we focused on both the demand side – how we use health care as employees – and the supply side – really reaching out and trying to change the market. Hats off to the whole crew in Healthy Incentives and to all of us employees for supporting them. – Nancy Buonanno-Grennan, Director, Human Resources Division
King County is awarded the 2013 Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government: (Left to right) King County Executive Dow Constantine; Whitney Abrams, Business Representative, Professional and Technical Employees, Local 17; Karleen Sakumoto, Employee Health & Well-Being Manager; Professor Stephen Goldsmith, Harvard Kennedy School; Caroline Whalen, County Administrative Officer; Kerry Schaefer, Strategic Planner, Employee Health & Well-Being.
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Kudos! Christine Nguyen, Customer Service Specialist III, Records and Licensing Services Division, DES
Good day, I was overseas for a year and when I returned, decided to get some personalized plates. There was a Christine who helped me at your 4th Street [Avenue] Office in Seattle at approximately 3:30 p.m. last Friday [May 2]. She not only took my plate application, but also let me know I could get tabs early (they were good until August, so I didn’t think it was possible to get them done early). She also reminded me that a new emissions test would also be needed and gave me excellent directions to the nearest station (I normally don’t get tested in Seattle area). She assured me all would be fine and updated once the emissions station input my results. I hurried to the station on 6th/Spokane, tested no problem, and drove back to work (NOAA has me back and forth from Seattle to Oregon). Yesterday, my new tabs and registration arrived to my work box in Oregon. I repeat, yesterday! That means in one workday (Monday), tabs/registration was printed, issued, routed to the post office. Honestly, this is the fastest I’ve ever seen any state government operate. I knocked out three things with one trip (plates, new tabs, emissions) and all because Christine pointed me in the right direction to update everything. Thanks for doing good work – Kyle B.
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Featured Job: Geographical Information Systems Specialist – Journey
Application deadline: Monday 07/07/14 4:30 PM
Salary: $33.76 – $42.79 Hourly / $2,700.80 – $3,423.20 Biweekly
Department: Department of Assessments
Description: The GIS Specialist (Cadastral Mapping) is primarily responsible for the maintenance of the King County GIS cadastral geodatabase. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in maintaining cadastral data in an ArcGIS versioned database. Additionally, the candidate will be production oriented and well versed in the translation and understanding of legal descriptions, deeds and property surveys. This position reports to the Mapping Unit Supervisor and takes technical direction from the GIS Coordinator.
Learn more about this position or view all available jobs
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Employees join clean sweep of Union Bay
Employees from Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) were among the more than 300 volunteers who removed trash and debris from Union Bay as part of the 12th Annual Puget Sound Keeper’s Lake Union Sweep on May 17.
Environmental Lab Scientists Bob Kruger and Stephanie Hess used the lab’s 25-foot aluminum research vessel Chinook to pick up trash collected by kayakers and keep a general eye on safety, with Bob skippering the boat and Stephanie serving as a deck-hand.
They joined volunteers in kayaks, row boats, canoes and motorized craft for the annual clean up event, and were able to use some of the Chinook’s unique features to pick up larger items that smaller vessels were unable to pick up.
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Five Questions with Tre’ Maxie, Chief Deputy Assessor, Department of Assessments
1. What does your role as Chief Deputy Assessor involve? There are 39 Cities and over 160 taxing Districts that rely on the information generated by the talented staff in our Department to fund their budgets. Working under the leadership of King County Assessor Lloyd Hara, I work with a team to oversee the Department of Assessments. We provide nearly $4 billion in fair assessments that fund important areas such as education, roads, fire, and hospitals for all King County cities and districts. We also maintain property maps and administer the many generous levies approved by voters, among other things.
2. What do you like most about your job? Each day is different. One day, I am working with one of the many taxing jurisdictions to provide information about property values, while another I could be out with other King County offices listening to the concerns of our Constituents. On other days I am working with staff to work through a complex obstacle or to “put out a fire,” and in some cases I am working to “start a fire.” I enjoy the variety of my job!
3. What is the biggest challenge in your job? From a practical level the volume of email both from internal and external stakeholders. I like to be responsive, but if I responded immediately to every email, I could possibly spend the majority of my day answering and generating email. I am a people person, so I like to have a meeting and discuss things in person. However, the work pace does not allow for that. So I am trying new methods like “no email time” for an hour here and an hour there. But it’s not easy, I always have a feeling that I am missing an important email, but I am learning to be OK without being constantly plugged into email.
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State-of-the-art pump station comes to Kirkland
The city of Kirkland has a new neighbor in town.
“As a downtown merchant I can say we are really excited to welcome the pump station as our newest downtown neighbor. It’s the kind of neighbor that everybody wants; it’s clean, quiet and attractive,” Penny Sweet, Kirkland’s Deputy Mayor said.
Waste water from local Kirkland buildings travels to the pump station, where the water is then pumped to a waste water treatment plant in Renton. The treatment plant takes the waste water, recovers nutrients that can be used, and then treats the rest of the water so it can safely go into the Puget Sound.
“This [water pump] is an integral part of our system,” Pam Elardo, the director of the Wastewater Treatment Division, said.
The Kirkland pump station, which was built in 1964, got new equipment and a redesign. According to Sebel Yildiz, the capital project manager, the project replaced all equipment inside, including electrical equipment, control panels and generators.
“Everything is state of the art so it’s super quiet and there are no odors and it works just like a charm,” Elardo said.
On top of functionality, the Wastewater Treatment Division wanted the exterior of the building to add to the neighborhood.
“We want to build a facility that’s actually an asset to the neighborhood, not a sore thumb or something that’s ugly. So we spent a lot of time working with the community, getting their input on design,” Elardo said.
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More copies of Equity & Social Justice poster available
King County’s Equity & Social Justice poster is once again available for employees to display in their workspace.
If you need copies of the poster, which uses an “equity tree” to highlight the determinants of equity, for your conference room or office, please contact paula.harris-white@kingcounty.gov or matias.valenzuela@kingcounty.gov to make arrangements to pick some up or put some in inter-office mail to your work site.
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King County Employees Deferred Compensation Fair
Americans are living longer, healthier lives. And while that’s a good thing, it also creates a challenge. Bringing your retirement landscape to life takes time, planning, and a clear vision of your future. Now is the time to plan ahead for a retirement that may last 30 years or more.
A work of art isn’t created overnight. It takes planning. Learn the skills and techniques you’ll need at the King County Employees Deferred Compensation Fair. All King County benefit-eligible employees and retirees are invited. The fair provides an ideal opportunity for you to get firsthand retirement and investing information, hear guest speakers, enjoy refreshments and camaraderie, and possibly win a prize!
June 24, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Benaroya Symphony Hall
200 University Street, Seattle, WA
Retirement and Investing Information • Guest Speakers • Refreshments • Raffle Drawings.
Get more detailed information here (PDF): 250934_fly_rtr_0514_P6_spread.
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Young Government Leaders Seattle Chapter Kickoff
Young Government Leaders (YGL) Seattle is a leadership and professional development organization, and it is hosting a kickoff event on June 26. 
YGL’s goals are to connect, educate, inspire and transform current and future government leaders in the Seattle metro area.
The June 26 kickoff event is open to employees at every level of government (federal, state, local, tribal, etc.) as well as anyone interested in government employment. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with others interested in government leadership as well as learn more about YGL Seattle (YGL is a Washington DC-based, national organization).
- YGL Seattle Kick Off
- Thursday, June 26 at 5 p.m.
- Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant Seattle
Attendance is voluntary and employees will not be compensated or receive overtime for attending.
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Parks upcycles cargo container for use by campers
In Tolt-MacDonald Park, near Carnation, campers now have the option of camping in a cargo box.
“I loved pulling materials out of the scrap bin to make something people would enjoy,” Jason Anglin, a carpenter with King County Parks, said. “It felt good to be this creative.”
This upcycled cargo container boasts radiant heat, LED lighting, a table and bench set, food storage, a futon bunk, and an outdoor fire pit. Upcycling is a form of reuse that aims to keep items from entering the waste stream when creating new products by reusing existing or scrap materials and reducing the use of new materials.
King County Parks Project Manager, Sujata Goel, got the idea for the project after looking at cargo containers on her bus ride to work. She wanted to be able to upcycle the County’s scrap material but keep the project under $10,000, while giving users some unexpected comforts. Read More
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