King County Executive announces new grant opportunities for unincorporated area projects
King County Executive Dow Constantine today announced the availability of Community Service Area grant funding for a wide variety of educational, cultural and environmental projects that will benefit residents of unincorporated areas. “Community Service Area grants help people share in local art, enhance our forests and green spaces, and connect with neighbors young and old,” said Executive Constantine. “We are proud to support the youth and senior projects, movie and music nights, and neighborhood gatherings that help make King County such a great place to call home.” A total of $90,000 in King County… Read More
King County controls a new noxious weed!
Crossposted from Noxious Weeds Blog It’s not every day you find a new noxious weed in your county, but this August King County had one of those days. On Aug. 15, our program was alerted to an infestation of the Class A noxious weed ricefield bulrush (Schoenoplectus mucronatus) growing in a wetland just east of Redmond. Sean Davis with Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Clark County helped confirm the ID of the species. Prior to this discovery, the main known location of this plant in Washington state had been in the Ridgefield refuge, along… Read More
Survey communications: Asking questions, acting on what we hear
When you ask someone for their feedback on something, you’d better have a plan for how you are going to act on that feedback. That’s exactly what King County has done with its annual employee survey. Almost 340 action plans were created to act on the issues you said were important in the 2016 survey. Two critical issues you raised were Career Opportunities and Leadership Visibility. Here are some of the ways that we acted on your responses: Career Opportunities Expanded the Bridge Fellowship program to provide leadership and development opportunities to more employees. Created an… Read More
Public Health: Providing a range of services downtown Seattle
By Jimmy’a (jih-MY-uh) Carter, a summer intern for the Executive’s Office Customer Service team. Jimmy’a, a 16 year old who will be a junior this fall at West Auburn High School, plans to attend a four-year college and get a degree in youth counseling. She joins us from the Bridge to Prosperity mentoring program. Earlier this month, I took a trip to the King County’s Downtown Public Health Center. I was so excited to learn how everything works in a busy clinic that serves different types of clients. Social workers Mary Cate and Michelle Bollinger… Read More
Increasing diversity in applicants, King County Sheriff’s Office
Blending in at recruitment events is one of the few changes that King County Sheriff’s Office has made to represent the County’s welcoming atmosphere and boost recruitment for females into commissioned officer positions. Court Protection Unit Sergeant Loi Dawkins trades in her full officer uniform for a polo shirt and cargo pants to attend recruitment events, a softer approach, she says, to entice career seekers to engage with recruitment staff. “For some people, it makes them feel more comfortable with approaching us when they otherwise would be intimidated by a gun, badge and uniform,”… Read More
Metro Transit’s Nathan Vass is committed to the challenging Route 7
This article originally appeared in The Seattle Times. It features Metro operator Nathan Vass. He is known among passengers, co-workers and friends as a charismatic storyteller who can defuse tough situations that come with a nighttime bus route traversing Seattle’s urban core. LeRoy Haigler first rode Metro Transit’s No. 7 bus after a one-way train ride from his home in Philadelphia to start over in Seattle. Homeless and fleeing family trauma, the 19-year-old had little money, few belongings and no place to go. He boarded the downtown-bound bus on Rainier Avenue round midnight, finding… Read More
King County’s Barton roadside rain gardens
See how King County used green infrastructure to build a CSO control facility in West Seattle King County’s Barton CSO Control project constructed 91 roadside rain gardens on 15 blocks in West Seattle. The project, completed in 2015, is a type of green stormwater infrastructure. King County is responsible for regular maintenance of the roadside rain gardens year round. You can expect to see crews onsite at least monthly performing regular maintenance.
Upcoming construction: 6th Ave paving project
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is planning to repave 6th Ave between Stewart St and Yesler Way. E ach year, Seattle rehabilitates arterial streets to make them safer and more comfortable to travel on and to extend their useful life. We anticipate major construction will begin as soon as spring 2018 and take 4 months to complete. In the meantime, repairs and replacements of any deficient curb ramps will start as soon as October of this year. This project was selected and prioritized based on pavement condition, traffic volume, opportunities to improve… Read More
Ready to respond: Boeing Field ARFF, neighbors train to deliver water to airfield emergencies
Crossposted from The Centerline With any fire emergency, firefighters are first to rush to the scene. The No. 1 tool they need is water to extinguish the flames – and at the airport they need plenty of it. That’s why last month at King County International Airport/Boeing Field, King County Sheriff’s Office Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF) unit conducted water-supply training exercises, and we invited our neighbors. We hosted Seattle, Tukwila and The Boeing Company Fire Departments over multiple practice sessions – organized by our own Deputy Seth Grant with ARFF – in… Read More
Employee Discount: Get your Trek on with Star Trek Beyond live in concert
King County employees can get discounted tickets to see Star Trek Beyond at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Seattle Symphony. All Orchestra Level Main Floor Seats are $35. Employees need to visit www.seattlesymphony.org, click Concerts and Tickets and enter the promo code BEYOND before selecting their seats. The Seattle Symphony will perform all the music from the movie live, while the film and dialog are playing on the giant screen hanging above the symphony. See all available discounts on the Employee Discount webpage.
Employee News 