King County Executive Dow Constantine and Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams recently visited King County employees and partners from the Communities of Opportunity program to learn more about their work to create greater racial, economic, and health equity that enables all people in King County to thrive and prosper. “Our goals for Communities of Opportunity line up with the intersection of wanting to see that all people are thriving economically, that all people are healthy, that they have quality, affordable housing, and that they are connected to the community,” Andréa Akita, Director… Read More

King County Executive Dow Constantine has launched a new video series introducing the five members of his Senior Leadership Team, starting with Gary Kurihara, Chief Performance Officer. “Unfortunately, despite considerable effort over the years, I have not yet mastered the ability to be in more than one place at one time,” Executive Constantine said in an email launching the video series. “So I rely on my Senior Leadership Team – which currently includes Budget Director Dwight Dively, Chief of Staff Rachel Smith, Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams, Chief Performance Officer Gary Kurihara… Read More

Director Dwight Dively of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget has put together a short video of his points on the upcoming 2019-2020 Budget process. “The County uses a biennial – or two-year – budget process, and our biennium starts Jan. 1 of each odd-numbered year,” said Dively. “The timeline for our budget process begins with getting budget proposals from departments by the end of June. The executive will then submit his budget proposal to council Sept. 24. The King County Council would then adopt a budget sometime in mid-Nov., and… Read More

Dear fellow King County employee, Today, the Supreme Court handed down its decision on Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, ruling that state and local public employees cannot be required to pay union dues or fees. Labor unions have always been valued partners in our efforts to make King County a great place to work, and a highly effective service provider for our residents. Just last month, the King County Council approved our groundbreaking Master Labor Agreement jointly developed with our Coalition of Unions, which gives us a… Read More

In Lean thinking, “Going to Gemba” refers to the process of going where the actual work happens to observe and learn from those doing the work, and that’s exactly what three members of Executive Constantine’s Senior Leadership Team recently did at Marymoor Park in Redmond. Chief Performance Officer Gary Kurihara, Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams and Chief Operating Officer Casey Sixkiller met with employees from King County Parks’ North Utility Trail Crew in their maintenance shop to learn more about their pilot of a Lean Daily Management System. “We went with the… Read More