Upcoming app seeks employee user input
KCIT is currently working on a project to upgrade the Solid Waste “What Do I Do With” app and needs your help! Volunteers may be asked to participate by either doing an activity online or in person. Participation involves about 30 minutes sometime in the month of September or October to review and provide feedback on prototypes of the new application. Contact Marivic.kokorowski@kingcounty.gov if you’re interested, seats are limited! If contacted to participate, you’ll need manager approval.
We’re hiring and training drivers, reducing canceled trips
Crossposted from Metro Matters (Editor’s Note: This blog post includes a message from Metro Transit Interim General Manager Rob Gannon, followed below by a detailed accounting by Operations Manager Ted Harris, who outlines Metro’s efforts to hire drivers during our time of growth. Learn about the opportunity to #DriveForMetro.) At Metro Transit, we strive to provide safe, reliable and consistent transit service. We know that hundreds of thousands of riders depend on us every day to get to work, to school, to shopping, and to an amazing variety of locations. And we… Read More
A special summer for ten students
Crossposted from King County Wastewater Treatment Division Summer’s over and school supplies are flying off store shelves. For ten students, it’s time to return from a special experience. At the end of August, ten high school students completed internships at King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD). For six weeks, these interns have seen their world view and horizons expand. They’ve learned about water and wastewater systems at the foundation of our region. They’ve learned about careers that protect the environment. They heard industry professionals describe their career paths and commitment to our… Read More
Climate Preparedness Summit September 21
Come learn about what King County is doing to prepare for climate impacts, meet the staff working on preparedness, learn about preparedness tools that may help your program, and find out how you can help get the county prepared! The Summit is set for Sept. 21, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. in the King Street Center, 8th Floor Conference Room. All King County employees welcome, but space is limited, so please sign up online, and ensure you have prior supervisor approval. For more information, please email Jessica Engel or call (206) 477-3132.
Ideas from 9/6 Training
Some more great ideas from the 9/6 training! Completing the survey automatically enters you into a drawing for a cool prize. Create a friendly competition between work groups in the division. Give a “golden ticket” for some fun event (root beer float party? Museum of Flight?) in exchange for completed survey. Drawing for prizes for those completing the survey. Let employees put a dot on an anonymous board when they take it to visually show how many have taken it — fill up the bucket!
Executive Constantine celebrates West Point 50th birthday with employees
On Aug. 18, King County Executive Dow Constantine joined Christie True, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, and Wastewater Treatment Division employees, former employees and retirees, to celebrate the West Point Treatment Plant’s 50th birthday. West Point, located next to Discovery Park in Seattle, has been helping protect Puget Sound for 50 years, and treats wastewater from homes and businesses in Seattle, Shoreline, north Lake Washington, north King County and parts of south Snohomish County. “We should be proud that we run such a clean sewage treatment plant that… Read More
Creating a better workplace, one action plan at a time
King County’s Public Health employees, like many County employees, are on the frontline of providing critical services to help residents live longer, healthier lives. People join Public Health because they want to help other people. Public Health has a wide range of customers – ranging from restaurant diners to people in medical distress who call 9-1-1 to our county’s most vulnerable residents who face barriers due to poverty, race, homeless status, gender, or limited English proficiency. So when the 2015 Employee Survey launched last September, leaders at Public Health saw an opportunity… Read More
King County employee saves passenger’s life on ferry commute
It just takes one person to save a life. And for a gentleman on the evening ferry headed from Seattle to Bainbridge Island on July 18, that person was a quick-thinking King County employee. It began with the announcement that there was a medical emergency. A passenger was having trouble breathing and ferry crew members had responded. When they realized he needed medical attention, a call was put out for medical professionals who could assist. That’s when Jim Gleckler, a Registered Nurse with Public Health, stepped forward. “He had stopped breathing and… Read More
My accidental mentoring opportunity … that turned out great!
By Dijana Steward, IT Project Manager and member of the KCIT Employee Engagement Committee In July, King County IT CIO Bill Kehoe and I were asked to participate in the “Diversity Panel and Resources Event for Tech Industry Career Opportunities” event, an evening-long program hosted by the Department of Community and Human Services to provide insight and inspiration to people of color in their quest to build a career in technology. Bill was on the employer leadership panel and I was on the “this is how it really is” diversity panel. I… Read More
Indoor shelter sites reopen, encampment ends
Working in collaboration with the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Catholic Community Services (CCS), Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (better known as SHARE), and the City of Seattle, we have been successful in negotiating an agreement to re-open more than a dozen indoor shelter sites in Seattle that had been closed since early spring. As a result, SHARE moved their encampments from our Administration Building Plaza and Goat Hill over the weekend. Under an agreement signed with CCS last week, approximately 250 shelter beds are re-opening, with two significant changes to operations:… Read More
Employee News 