State of the County: Executive Constantine announces focus on healthy aging, new reception centers for youth
In his eighth State of the County address, Executive Dow Constantine introduced the theme: you belong here. Noting that 40 percent of the region’s population increase since 2010 has been from people not born in the country, Executive Constantine said the region’s diversity was one of its greatest assets. “All these people came here to seek a better life but they are making all of our lives better,” said Executive Constantine, speaking at the Auburn Community and Event Center. Read more here and view the video below.
Tech Tip: Common IT wisdom that keeps you secure
By Ralph Johnson, Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer Day in and day out, employees hear the same things from their IT staff about cybersecurity and safety. Though they may sound like a broken record, there are very important reasons and rationale behind these practices and advice. Keeping safe and secure while connected isn’t just about how your system is set up – it is also very much about how you end up using it. Below, we discuss some common IT staff wisdom and provide some background information and the rationale as to… Read More
King County Information Technology Service Alert: SharePoint changes
What’s happening? On Wednesday, March 22 at 9 p.m., KCIT is performing an upgrade that may affect how you login to Office 365 applications such as SharePoint Online, CRM Online, etc. After this change has been implemented, you are required to use your email address and password to login to these Microsoft applications. This is the same password that you use to access email, Skype for Business, etc. Why are we doing this? This change is required because Microsoft is retiring the current account synchronization method in April 2017 and we must… Read More
KCCF Corrections Officer Chris Chu lives for moments of peace and solace
Shared from the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention’s Employee Spotlight The Chinese New Year in downtown Seattle’s International District can be heard clear across the skyscrapers to the Puget Sound. KCCF Corrections Officer Chris Chu provides the rhythmic drumbeat during the Lion Dance. When he is finished, he walks amongst the participants and onlookers, mounts his BMW motorcycle, and briefly, the exhaust’s roar mingles with the boisterous festivities. A pile of fallen orange and red leaves scatter excitedly as the motorcycle roars across I-90 as its rider travels up to Snoqualmie… Read More
Bus operator takes passengers on multi-lingual, multicultural experience
Bus driver Kathy Maddux cares about her riders. She wants them to enjoy the time on board her bus as they drive together around the city. In late December 2016 she used a car window marker to make them feel especially welcome, by writing write fun messages to her riders on the windows. Just an afterthought after finding the non-permanent marker in her daughter’s backpack, the messages Kathy wrote were simple and thoughtful. “The first day I did it, I wrote ‘Happy January’ facing the inside of the bus, and ‘Feliz Enero,’… Read More
2017 State of the County address
Dear fellow King County employee, In our work together, we are continuing to reinvent how King County does business. We call it Best Run Government, a mindset that embraces innovation, continuous improvement and teamwork to take on challenges, big and small, in our communities. Along the way we’ve been winning national recognition and the support of our residents for our ideas. That support led to the success of Sound Transit 3, which will allow us to build on the successes of our transit system – including Metro’s RapidRide network and ORCA LIFT… Read More
Kudos to Career Support Services for helping employees manage careers and improve skills!
Career Support Services offers a variety of services, training and resources to King County employees in the areas of career development and job search, including support for career-service employees facing layoff. It has received rave reviews from employees who spoke with a career coach about their career plan, and also by employees going through layoffs. Employees from around the County have shared: “This is an excellent resource, I plan on utilizing more of the services offered as well as letting my co-workers know.” –Department of Transportation “Very helpful, thank you for this… Read More
Social Media Spotlight: Department of Natural Resources and Parks Twitter
Check out news and information from King County Natural Resources and Parks. Follow King County DNRP on Twitter today! Click here to view all King County social media pages.
New naming conventions at King County
King County is changing the way new employees access King County systems. We have changed the login standards for various email-based systems to move toward a single, universal sign on. A single, universal sign on is simpler to remember, easier to automate new account creation and increases the county’s ability to protect against phishing, scams and other cyberthreats. What will it look like? Whether you sign into your PC or email, it will be first letter of first name plus last name. For Juan Hernandez it will be: jhernandez to sign into… Read More
Tech Tip: Skype Bites: How to get Skype for Business into your Outlook and Calendar Ribbon
Lots of people email me, Jamie Holter, and say, “I can’t even get Skype on my computer! Your Skype bites are of no use to me!!” Well, here’s how to do it in 30 seconds.. well… 39 seconds.
Employee News 