Update on in-person operations in January
By Dow Constantine, King County Executive Many of you have been asking about Future of Work (return-to-office) plans in the new year, and the impacts of the Omicron variant to our timelines. Our Future of Work plans are created to be nimble and responsive to health and safety, operations, and the needs of our employees. We have not set a firm return-to-office date for those employees who are currently teleworking. At this point, due to the changing environment around the Omicron COVID-19 variant, and the expectation that the spread of the variant… Read More
Fred Jarrett Leadership Excellence Award presented to John Diaz
The final honoree of the 2020 King County Leadership Excellence Awards, receiving the Fred Jarrett Award, is John Diaz, Director of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD). The Fred Jarrett Award honors a department or division leader who is outstanding in their work and embodies the Executive Branch values, striving to reach our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. In the short time he has been with King County, John has shown he is open to new ideas, and ready to take on tough challenges… Read More
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a day to celebrate the rich heritage, culture, contributions, and resilience of Indigenous people in our region and here at King County. Our region benefits tremendously from the generations of Native American people on whose land we currently live. There are 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington State, and King County is home to a thriving Native American population from Tribal nations across the country. We are on the unceded ancestral lands of the Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Tulalip, and Suquamish Tribes, and the Duwamish people. The legacy… Read More
2020 Innovation Award for Equity and Social Justice honorees
The King County Innovation Awards honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year’s Equity and Social Justice Award recipient is the Department of Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Community Mitigation and Recovery Team (CMR). These honorees consider challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address important needs. They met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. The pandemic disproportionately affected communities that have been historically underserved. To mitigate the… Read More
2020 Innovation Award for People honorees
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. These honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. This year’s People Innovation Award recipient is the Department of Human Resource’s Mental Health Initiative. “With the twin public health crises of COVID-19 and racism, it became imperative that we were taking care… Read More
2020 Innovation Award for Service honorees
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year, however, the Service award honors not individuals, but teams who pulled together to address the urgent needs of the COVID pandemic in our community. The True North values of “We are one team,” “We solve problems,” and above all, “We respect all people” drove these teams to come up with creative and effective solutions that truly aided some of the most vulnerable in our community. Due to the pandemic,… Read More
September is National Recovery and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
Dear fellow King County employee, September is National Recovery and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and it comes at a time when anxiety and pandemic-fueled trauma are on the rise nationally after some recent improvements. At King County we have seen a similar trend in a recent survey of employee well-being and belonging. I know this is a worrying time, with COVID-19 once again surging, new restrictions being put in place, and parents getting ready to send their kids back to school after so many months. We need to continue to pay particular… Read More
2020 Innovation Award for Cost honorees
The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. Through the True North values of “We solve problems” and “We drive for results,” these honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner. Receiving the Innovation Award for Cost, which includes anything that is financially related and affects the County’s finances, is the Department of Executive Services… Read More
A workplace free of discrimination, harassment, and inappropriate conduct
By Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer Three years ago I launched King County’s Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment and Inappropriate Conduct Policy as part of our efforts to provide a workplace culture where every employee is treated with respect and valued for their unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Our policy is clear: any type of harassment or discrimination at King County is prohibited. The policy clearly sets out the conduct and behaviors that will not be tolerated, as well as how to report incidents, all employees’ responsibilities, and the consequences of non-compliance. Since launching the… Read More
Executive Constantine’s Top 20 Accomplishments in 2020
When we ended 2019, we had every reason to be optimistic, hopeful, and prepared for another year of growth in King County. But 2020 proved just how quickly things can change. It’s no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our focus this year, as we led the response to the nation’s first outbreak of the disease. From setting up our medical command center even before the first confirmed case, to building isolation and quarantine recovery facilities, to distributing millions of masks to county residents, King County employees have been working to… Read More
Employee News 