Breaking down language barriers to make King County accessible to all
Imagine not understanding public service announcements or not being able to call an information line because they are not offered in your language. It is a problem that many King County residents face and something the Office of Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) and Customer Service Officers are trying to change. An Executive Order already requires printed public communications pieces and vital documents for broad distribution to be translated into at least Spanish, but the Office of ESJ and county agencies have been developing and implementing new ways to interact with the community and provide information. One approach is working with ethnic media, such as the… Read More
New IT tool helping local law enforcement
After two years of hard work, King County Information Technology (KCIT) and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO) launched a new system known as eLODI, or Electronic Log of Detective Input. eLODI allows law enforcement officers throughout the county to electronically submit their referrals, evidence and case documents to the PAO’s case management system, PROSECUTORbyKarpel. One of the first to involve a Software as a Service (SaaS) vendor of this scale, eLODI was a collaboration of the PAO, Karpel Solutions, the KCIT Project Management Office (PMO), Business Analysis Group, Business Solution Services (BSS)… Read More
Dry summer means we still need to conserve more water
Think we’ve had enough rain? Think again. That’s the message from public water utilities that continue to urge businesses, governments and residents to take aggressive measures to conserve water by 10 percent. While recent precipitation and cooler temperatures did provide some relief, the extended hot, dry weather we experienced over the summer and the lack of snowpack in the mountains continue to create serious water management challenges. In King County, water conservation efforts are essential to maintaining water quality conditions needed to support our salmon populations. Low instream flows combined with high… Read More
Kudos! Four employees spotlighted in The Seattle Times’ Women in the Trades feature
Four King County employees were featured in The Seattle Times’ portrait series “Women in the Trades,” a look into Puget Sound’s hardworking women. Mari Jane Friel (pictured right) and Liesel Brus with Road Services Division, and Kate Osborn and Stacey Walker with Wastewater Treatment Division, spoke about their jobs in what have been traditionally male fields, and what they love about their work. “I love what I do,’’ Friel, a laborer with Road Services Division, said. “It’s something different every day.”
Kudos! David Yoshizumi, Senior Animal Control Officer, Regional Animal Services of King County
Hello Tim and Gene, We had a recent experience with one of your Field Agents who services Carnation, WA. I do not have his card in front of me, but I wanted to pass on my deep appreciation for the service he provided to us!! Our situation was that an elderly neighbor had left their cat (healthy and older) with us when they sold their home and went to assisted living. The cat was an outdoor cat with a “friend” who hung around with him who was quite sickly. Like the neighbor… Read More
Restorative Mediation making a difference for youth
Earlier this year, Juvenile Court implemented a Restorative Mediation Pilot option for youth in diversion. The pilot has since expanded beyond diversion and is now available to adjudicated youth. It provides youth with the opportunity to reduce time on supervision or in place of court-ordered community service hours. Restorative Mediation is an opportunity for an offender to have a facilitated conversation with the victim, giving the victim an opportunity to express how the event affected him/her, to provide space for understanding what took place for both parties, and to restore relationships that were… Read More
Women in Trades: King County Road Services
Mari Jane Friel is up to her knees in mud as dark as chocolate cake and smiling broadly. “I love what I do,’’ she says. “It’s something different every day.” Friel, 58, a laborer with King County’s Road Services Division 2, previously worked in corrections and as a chef in downtown Seattle. Her first day on the job, she was assigned to dig a ditch. Today, she’s wielding a shovel and a siphon to clear a drainage ditch of mud and weeds so that salmon can pass through during the rainy season…. Read More
Kudos! Metro Transit names Operator, Vehicle Maintenance Employees of the Year
Metro Transit employees John Boone and Ryan Stringfellow were recently honored with the Operator and Vehicle Maintenance Employee of the Year awards. Bellevue Base operator John Boone was honored on June 24 as Metro’s 2014 Transit Operator of the Year. At the surprise ceremony, held in the East Base Vehicle Maintenance bay, he was interviewed by local TV outlets before being escorted on stage. Boone was chosen by his fellow 2014 Operators of the Month because of his long and excellent record of providing high-quality customer service to his riders. One of… Read More
CASA program needs volunteers
Each year in King County, more than 12,000 children are separated from their families due to abuse or neglect. With the support of foster programs, many of the children are placed in foster care for the time being their parents are in court. But who represents the children in court? Court Appointed Special Advocates are trained volunteers who represent the children and their best interests during the legal process. “We say that a CASA is the voice of the child,” Pamela Beatty, a CASA volunteer said. “We do the speaking for the… Read More
Going mobile to manage hazardous waste
How can King County keep dangerous, hazardous materials from finding their way into landfills and the environment? One solution is the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program’s Wastemobile. Rather than a fleet of vehicles driving to various locations in King County, each “wastemobile” is a temporary tent location set up on the weekends, usually in parking lots of businesses or schools, where small businesses and home owners can bring their hazardous waste to be properly disposed of. “A little hazardous waste in the environment goes a long way and is very bad for… Read More
Employee News 