Five Questions with Jim Chan, Assistant Director for Permitting, Department of Permitting and Environmental Review
1. What was your first role at King County? I was hired as a summer intern in my junior year at the University of Washington, working for the Building and Land Use Department as an Engineer Assistant. I reviewed residential building permit applications, drove throughout the county visiting development sites and met with property owners and consultants. 2. Why did you choose King County as an employer? While a student at the UW, I worked for a professor making $4.50 an hour counting cars on overpasses. The Building and Land Use Department was… Read More
ADR launches Conflict Clinic Online
Got conflict in your workplace? The King County Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) recently launched the Conflict Clinic blog to help you work through it. They post weekly tips and tools for shifting destructive conflict into a creative force for stronger relationships and better results. “Instead of avoiding difficult conversations for fear things will just get worse, or lashing out at others, you can read the blog for practical approaches to engage others in conversations that matter,” said Doug Nathan, a mediator with ADR and a writer and editor for the… Read More
Kudos! Kyle M. Gulke, Metro Transit Operator
Good Morning, This message is overdue by a couple of weeks, and I apologize. But I want to make sure that this bus driver gets kudos. This happened on January 30th, 2015. His name is Kyle, and he was driving bus number 9540z (not sure if there was a z on the end of that number or if I accidentally hit it when putting it in my phone). It was the 522 bus at 7:58am south bound on the Bothell Way and 153rd St in Lake Forest Park stop. This was a… Read More
Trailblazing carpenter wants more women to follow in her footsteps
When Linda Romanovitch joined King County 30 years ago she didn’t consider herself a trailblazer but she unwittingly broke through a barrier that would make it easier for other women to follow in her footsteps. Linda became King County’s first female carpenter on December 4, 1984. Her interest in carpentry grew while helping her grandfather, also a carpenter, complete odd jobs. At 22 she joined an organization in Seattle that helped women and minorities become successful in the trades and she completed a six-week pre-apprenticeship. She went on to complete a full… Read More
Official launch of KCWeb & roadshow – Feb. 26, 2015
King County’s new KCWeb Intranet will officially launch on Thursday, Feb. 26, and we will be celebrating with a traveling roadshow, an online treasure hunt, prizes and giveaways to help you get to know your new one-stop shop for employee news, information and the tools you use every day. Join us from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, for live demonstrations of the new KCWeb, tips and giveaways in: The Chinook Building lobby King Street Center lobby Administration Building 5th floor lobby. If you can’t make it to one of the… Read More
Kent Public Health is a design winner
The new Kent Public Health Center received a national design award in the 2014 International Interior Design Association Healthcare Interior Design Competition. The IIDA presented nine awards, including projects at major institutions in New York City, Cincinnati and Los Angeles. Designed by Buffalo Design, in collaboration with Public Health an the Facilities Management Division (FMD), the Kent project was the only winner in the Northwest. In addition to winning the IIDA award, it’s important to note that this and other projects, managed by Public Health and FMD, achieved goals set forth by the… Read More
New office is ready to harness new ideas to achieve social change
King County’s commitment to Equity and Social Justice is taking another step forward with the creation of an Office of Equity and Social Justice. “This has been a progression. It has become one of the priorities for our leadership, especially for our Executive Dow Constantine. It’s essential to what he and our other County leaders are trying to accomplish,” said Matías Valenzuela, the Director of the Office of Equity and Social Justice (ESJ). What started as an initiative by former County Executive Ron Sims has now evolved into a sustained effort that… Read More
Rebranded program helps people understand CSOs
Protecting Our Waters is King County’s program to prevent pollution caused by excess stormwater in the sewer system on rainy days. The older parts of King County’s wastewater system use a single set of pipes to carry both sewage and rain running off streets and buildings. Most of the time, this polluted water goes to a wastewater treatment plant. But in heavy rains, the pipes can overflow into rivers, lakes, or Puget Sound. Overflow points called “combined sewer overflows” or CSOs are built into the system. CSOs prevent sewer backups into homes… Read More
Five Questions with Jennifer Hills, Risk Manager, Department of Executive Services
1. What was your first role at King County? I came to King County in April of 1999 as the Loss Control Manager in the Office of Risk Management. My position was new and was added as a result of a budget proviso. The council wanted more resources dedicated to preventing liability losses. One of my early attempts at sharing lessons learned with departments was through a publication called the Risk Management Recipe (I love to cook, hence the name!). The publication did not last but the concept of collecting, sharing, and disseminating… Read More
Metro’s unofficial ambassador to seniors
Once a month, on his own time, part-time Metro Transit operator David Waggoner (East Base) takes friends from the Issaquah Senior Center on bus trips that, he feels, profoundly improve their lives. “Just because you belong to a senior center doesn’t mean that the next thing is that you’re in a coffin and next you’re in the ground,” he said recently. “The best thing for seniors is travel.” He has taken friends on bus rides from Issaquah to downtown Seattle, Northgate, the North Bend outlet stores, and Sea-Tac Airport. “It’s amazing to… Read More
Employee News 