Kudos! Metro Transit creates lasting friendships
The following kudos was received August 9 and is from a longtime King County Metro rider: I’ve been riding Metro bus lines for 11 years. I commute to and from work on the 121 or 122 every day. About a year ago, I met a nice woman on my evening commute on route 122. We sat next together sharing only our route time in common and quickly became best buddies. Our friendship grew outside our commute time together, and this past weekend I participated in her wedding. When other guests asked how… Read More
Metro employee receives lifesaving award
Crossposted from Metro Matters By Hannah Debenedetto / King County DOT intern When an elderly man suffered a heart attack last April outside a Burien Starbucks cafe, Metro’s Marc Anderson knew what to do. Anderson monitored the man’s vital signs as a Starbucks employee provided chest compressions. They continued performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until paramedics from nearby King County Fire District 28 arrived. In August, Metro Transit Risk Program Manager Marc Anderson was honored with the City of Burien’s 2017 Heroism Award for helping save the man’s life. The patient, Christopher Smith… Read More
From the Hip: Barb Miner, Director, Department of Judicial Administration
Supervisors or Super Heroes? Who is instrumental in choosing the next new King County employee? Who inspires employees to be engaged, makes sure they are trained, and gets them the resources they need to accomplish their job? Who ensures daily operations are managed and weekly and monthly goals get met? Whose presence and efforts helps create an environment here in King County that is welcoming and comfortable for employees and customers alike? Who does all of this plus so much more? THE SUPERVISORS! Or maybe we should call them the SUPER HEROES,… Read More
All Home Director Mark Putnam featured in blog about changing homelessness narrative
All Home Director Mark Putnam recently contributed a guest blog to the Seattle Foundation called “It’s time to change the narrative on homelessness.” “Changing the way we think about homelessness, which is deeply embedded in our internal and cultural biases, is critical to our ability to meaningfully address the crisis we are faced with today,” Putnam writes in the blog. “While we are housing more people through homeless services than ever, our efforts have failed to match the increasing need. Homelessness has reached emergency levels in Seattle/King County and it is no accident that we… Read More
Metro’s top bus driver is cheerful, patient, considerate
Quick as a wink, he climbs out of the driver’s seat to help a passenger with her grocery bags. Riders know him by his cheerful smile and say he’s friendly and courteous, and that he looks out for riders who are older and need a helping hand. He even eases the stress riders feel when the whole bus is stuck in congestion. Meet James Turner. At a surprise ceremony today, Metro officials, Turner’s fellow bus drivers and his family shared stories of his kindness and kudos from riders spanning 35 years as… Read More
Summer Interns meet with Executive Constantine
By Miguel Estevez Osorio and Von Te’Kwan Dalton, high school summer interns for the Office of Equity and Social Justice and Public Health-Seattle & King County (respectively) through King County’s Lift Every Youth Employment & Mentorship Program Pilot. Recently, King County Executive Dow Constantine met with some of us summer interns from King County’s Lift Every Youth Employment and Mentorship Program Pilot, and Performance, Strategy and Budget’s undergraduate and graduate summer internship initiative. Deputy King County Executive Rhonda Berry, Director of Employee Engagement Whitney Abrams, and Arun Sambataro, Equity Strategies Manager with the Office of Equity and… Read More
Mario Bailey helps youth get back on track with education and employment opportunities
Crossposted from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Facebook In the early 1990s, Mario Bailey was setting University of Washington football on fire. The Husky Hall of Famer and All American receiver helped take the Huskies to the Rose Bowl twice, scoring four touchdowns at the bowl games and leading the Huskies to a co-national championship in 1991. By the end of his college football career, Mario had shattered several records. He still holds the Husky and PAC-12 record for touchdowns in a season (18), and has the record for career touchdowns… Read More
Kudos! Supportive supervisor sets up yoga for employees at Columbia Dental Clinic
The following message was received by Dental Assistant Geniece Kinney in praise of her supervisor for being thoughtful of employees health and well being. I wanted to give a big shout out to my supervisor, Deborah DeQuier Bowden. She partnered with one of our community partners, Tiger Lilly Yoga. She has made it possible for some of our dental staff to take yoga for lunch two times a week at our site. Our job can be very stressful and we are learning to use mindful tools to lessen the impact to our lives. I’d like to send out a… Read More
Fred Jarrett to lead initiative on excellence in unincorporated services and municipal contracts
Dear fellow King County employee, I have appointed Senior Deputy Executive Fred Jarrett to take on a major new body of work, leading an initiative to explore new and better ways to serve the people of unincorporated King County. About a quarter of a million people live in unincorporated King County, nearly as many as in the County’s second and third-largest cities – Bellevue and Kent – combined. From the Enumclaw Plateau to the Snoqualmie Valley; from urban White Center and Skyway to rural Hobart and Fall City; from the shores of Vashon… Read More
New Director’s learning curve becomes a mountain
Crossposted from Clean Water Stories Anyone who’s ever started a new job knows there can be a lot to learn for the first few months – or even year. When you tackle the learning curve, you have to learn a lot of new faces and names, procedures, and most importantly, your responsibilities. Mark Isaacson had a head start when he was hired as Director of King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) in October 2016. Mark knew what it was like to work in the County on clean water and environmental issues. Previously, Mark… Read More
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