Apply for surface water management fee discount by Sept. 15
King County’s Stormwater Services Section offers a surface water management fee discount for low-income property owners in unincorporated King County. Low-income households may be eligible for a 50 percent discount on this annual fee for their primary residence. Residents already approved for the King County Senior Citizen and People with Disabilities Reduction through the Assessor’s office do not need to apply. Additionally, Stormwater Services Section staff will help identify discounts callers may be eligible for. The open period to apply for this discount is every year from Aug. 1 through Sept. 15. Learn more… Read More
Airport attracts eventgoers in Chinatown-International District
Crossposted from the DES Express King County International Airport recently participated in the Chinatown-International District Celebration for the first time. Troy Chen, Community Outreach Specialist, recommended the airport join in the event, held on July 12. Chen, who is fluent in Mandarin, Shanghainese (the Shanghai dialect), Spanish and English, engaged with community members and highlighted several ongoing and upcoming projects happening around the airfield. Read more.
Pickard returns to Juvenile Division as Deputy Director
Crossposted from the DAJD newsletter After about a year with King County Metro, Catherine Pickard has returned to DAJD as the new Juvenile Division Deputy Director. Her first day was Aug. 4. “Her decision to return speaks volumes about her dedication to youth justice and her desire to be part of our renewed vision,” Juvenile Division Director Chuck Parkins said. “I look forward to Catherine joining our leadership team and have been very impressed with her background, vision, and desire to connect with our important work throughout the deputy recruitment.” Read more.
Quick guide for parents and caretakers: What vaccines your child Needs
As you prep for school or childcare, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) makes it easy to know which vaccines are required for kids. These simple charts from Washington DOH’s School and Child Care Immunizations webpage walk you through what’s needed at each age: Required Immunizations for School-aged Children and Required Immunizations for Childcare. To check if your child is already up to date on their vaccines, you can follow any of the steps in this blog. Read more.
Participate in the flooding and clean water survey by Aug. 17
If you or your family and friends live in the communities of South Park, Boulevard Park, Duwamish, or Bryn Mawr-Skyway, we are planning for clean water and need your help. We are making a list of priority problems to fix in these areas through a clean water survey. Your information on local flooding, potholes, erosion, and septic problems will build the project list to protect property and communities. The survey takes about five minutes and you can sign up to win a $100 gift card. Share your feedback at https://tinyurl.com/SAMPsurvey by Aug. 17. The survey… Read More
King County Metro adding more than 900 weekly bus trips, improved 2 Line connections
Crossposted from Metro Matters Another boost in King County Metro bus service begins Aug. 30. New and improved routes will better serve Eastside communities and help facilitate connections to Sound Transit’s 2 Line light rail stations. Metro also is adding bus service in Seattle on Route 106 funded by the voter-approved Seattle Transit Measure. On-demand service Metro Flex is expanding to Bellevue on Sept. 15. Read more.
Make sure your voice is heard
Now that Election Day has come and gone, it’s time to be sure your ballot can be counted. Sometimes folks forget to sign their ballot and sometimes a ballot signature doesn’t match the ones King County Elections has on file. If you received notice about an issue with your signature, take a moment to resolve the issue. You can return a signature resolution form by mail or email, in person, or online at kce.wiki/SigCure by 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 18. Trained staff review all signature resolution forms and verify voters’ identities so their ballots can… Read More
Wellness Hero Young Jang
Balanced You Wellness Heroes highlights employees doing things to better their lives, the lives of their colleagues, and our community. Meet Wellness Hero Young Jang, IT Project Manager, King County Metro. Young discusses her work and passion for technology, and how teamwork is driving innovation across our transit systems. She shares highlights from two major projects, how collaboration brings her joy while working with talented colleagues to watch her work come to life, and what she does for self-care. When she’s not leading tech transformations, she recharges through meditation, baking, and hitting… Read More
Farming taught him patience: The skill serves him well in corrections
Crossposted from the DAJD newsletter Officer Kevin Ntabo grew up with farming as a way of life. When not in uniform he carries on that tradition by raising and selling crops in Kent. You might assume that agriculture and corrections have nothing in common. But Ntabo says there’s a key to success in either profession: patience. “People will say that farming is a hard and dirty job, but it is not if you have a passion to do it,” Ntabo said. “It takes a little passion to do it, and sacrifice.” Read more.
Monitoring in Action: DAJD’s effort to improve the hiring process centers applicant experience and cuts costs
Ava Michler, with the Performance and Strategy (PSB) team, spoke with Sara Tollefson and M.J. Wheble about the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention’s (DAJD) switch to a new background investigation platform used in job hiring. This change saves money and aims to reduce vacancy rates. The DAJD project team collaborates with the new platform’s vendor to improve experience for users and HR analysts. Collecting data is important, as they look to answer questions like: Are we successfully reaching diverse communities in our hiring process? Read the full story here. Take a moment… Read More
Employee News 