Be prepared for an earthquake
Last week’s earthquake in California is a good reminder that we need to be prepared for an earthquake in Washington state. Our goal is always to continue providing as many County services as possible in an emergency, while also ensuring the safety of our employees. When reporting to work, remember to let safety be your guide for commute decisions and while doing your job, and check with your supervisor or manager for specific information or directions. Please follow these general tips on earthquake preparedness both at home and at work:
We are Replacing Your Email PST files
Like many County employees, you may be using PST (Outlook data) files to store email that has outgrown your mailbox. Although using PSTs have been the County’s preferred practice for some time, this fall we are beginning the process to move all data contained in PSTs to Exchange Archive Mailboxes with the PST Replacement Project. Please note that the ability to store a large volume of email records in the Exchange Archive Mailbox does not satisfy or remove your responsibility to manage your email. Remember, your email records are County property which… Read More
King County Drug Court Celebrates 20 Years
King County Courthouse, Presiding Courtroom, 9:00 a.m., the second Wednesday of the month…the jury box fills with eager and excited men and women of different ages, races, and backgrounds all filled with a sense of accomplishment. Proud children, spouses, significant others, mothers, fathers, grandparents, counselors, and attorneys gather as spectators in the benches. Everyone is waiting for the King County Drug Court judges to emerge from chambers and preside over a remarkable event – an event marking the completion of a minimum 11-month demanding and sometimes grueling program, the dismissal of felony… Read More
Internet Gateway Filter (IGF) Update
In December of 2011 we implemented an Internet Gateway Filter to prevent users from accessing inappropriate (as defined by the county’s Acceptable Use Policy) or malicious web sites that can infect computers with viruses. Why do we need a filter? The King County network experiences an average of 100,000 malware attacks each week, 90% of which originate from the Internet. The Internet Gateway Filter helps to significantly reduce these incidents, resulting in less downtime and increased productivity. In September we will be making some changes, and moving the function to a different… Read More
WTD employee (and artist) helps kids create mural
Seattle University’s CitySoil Farm collaborated with Ricardo Israel, a local artist and Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) South Treatment Plant employee, and the Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS) to design an aerosol art mural in Renton. Ricardo designed and created the center piece of the art installation and the youth group made several quarter-sized pieces to surround the centerpiece. The students created images of bugs, flowers, trees, fruits and vegetables. The mural will be displayed on the treatment plant’s fence facing Grady Way, and visible to passersby from I-405. Views of the mural will… Read More
Food: Too Good To Waste challenges consumers to cut food waste
On average, Americans waste 25 percent of all the food they buy. While most people think they’re not wasting much food, studies show that Americans waste much more food than they think they do. “In collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, King County’s Solid Waste Division (SWD) has developed the Food: Too Good To Waste program to bring awareness to the environmental and financial impacts of wasting food and to offer residents helpful tips on reducing food waste,” said Karen May, the program’s manager. Food waste makes up the largest… Read More
Employees learn about ethnic and disability media
On Monday, July 28, King County staff spent a valuable morning learning more about the richness of ethnic and disability media in King County. The event included a panel of ethnic and disability media journalists, a networking session, and a Q&A session with Executive Constantine. The event provided various opportunities for King County employees and the Executive to interact with the ethnic and disability media. Panelists shared great advice about working with ethnic and disability media to serve the growing diversification of people living in King County. “We encourage you to contact… Read More
Featured Job: Human Resource Manager
Application deadline: Wed. 08/27/14 4:00 PM Salary: $93,329 – $118,310 Department: Department of Permitting and Environmental Review Description: Serve as a hands-on human resources professional to administer the department’s legal and policy obligations in the area of personnel, and work in partnership with others to seek full compliance. Serve as the department’s advisor on personnel matters. Supervise the department’s compensation / benefits / attendance staff. Learn more about this position or view all available jobs.
Kudos! Afshin Meratinia, Metro Bus Operator
I wanted to thank this driver for avoiding the freeway backup due to the incident on the freeway, and finding a way to get folks home as fast as he could. He even offered suggestions for people who needed to go directly to Shoreline. I took his advice, and got home 3 hours sooner than I expected given the situation. Since I had worked all day and visited a friend in the hospital before going home, I couldn’t afford to be stuck on the freeway and miss an online test due at… Read More
Tell us about your “other life”
Like radio host Sandy Macdonald, King County employees do lots of interesting things in their “other lives” in addition to the work they do for King County. Do you have another life outside of your King County work that you’d like to share with your colleagues? Email us the details at kcemployees@kingcounty.gov or tweet us with the hashtag #kcotherlives (remember to follow us @kcemployees), and we will feature your stories in upcoming editions of Employee News.
Employee News 