Working to combat homelessness in King County
Making homelessness in King County a rare event, and when it does occur, a brief and one-time experience, is the mission of the Committee to End Homelessness (CEH) King County, and its latest annual report details how it will achieve these goals. King County now has the third largest stock of homeless housing in the country, behind only New York City and Los Angeles, and yet on a single night, January 14, 2014, more than 3,123 individuals were living outside and another 6,171 individuals were in shelters or transitional housing, per the… Read More
Native Plant Salvage Program promotes financial and environmental sustainability
A small team of King County employees and many volunteers are making sure that native plants that would be impacted by development projects are finding new homes in revegetation and habitat restoration projects across the county. This season alone, 11,260 native plants were salvaged for the Water and Land Resource Division’s Native Plant Salvage Program. “The cool thing about this is that plants get used all over King County and not just on County-sponsored projects,” said Cindy Young, the ecologist who heads up the program. Volunteers also get to salvage plants for… Read More
S.N.A.C. helps families and kids to eat fresh and healthy
According to Elizabeth Kimball from Public Health – Seattle & King County, the key to teaching nutrition is to teach about the origin of food. “When you’re teaching nutrition it’s very hard to talk about nutrition without talking about food – eating food, tasting food and preparing, storing and packing food — all the logistics and practical elements of eating,” Kimball said. Kimball heads up Public Health’s Seattle Nutrition Action Consortium, or S.N.A.C. program. “One of the hallmarks of S.N.A.C. is all of our various projects include cooking, which I think is… Read More
Kudos! Jack Millman, Metro Transit Operator
I just wanted to write in and say that this bus driver totally made my night last week! I sometimes am nervous taking the bus this late at night by myself, but his friendly attitude greeting everyone as they came on the bus instantly put me at ease. He was joking and commenting about different locations along the route and made everyone smile. I wish I had caught his name, but hopefully you can pass along the note that I appreciated his friendly attitude. – K. Renee
Sheriff’s Marine Unit keeping local waters safe
Sergeant Jim Knauss and his unit of four deputies have a mission: to make sure boaters have a good time, but do so safely. “We’re out here every day, we’re out patrolling. We have at least two boats out and we’re looking for things that aren’t safe,” Knauss said in a recent story produced by King County TV. The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine and Dive Unit patrols eight contract cities and the unincorporated parts of King County, including water around Vashon Island, and in front of Shoreline and Burien. They also… Read More
DPD volunteers help former defendants get juvenile records sealed
Nearly once a month, three Department of Public Defense employees give over an evening to help adults struggling with the long-lasting repercussions of mistakes they made as teenagers. Some of the people who show up at the free legal clinic can’t get a job; others are denied housing; still others get by-passed for graduate school – all because of a criminal record from their days as a youth. The DPD employees – Kari Boyum, an attorney, Matthew Pang, also an attorney, and Ryan Gray, an investigator – work with law students and other… Read More
Five Questions with Lilly Simmering, Food Economy Program Manager, Department of Natural Resources and Parks
1. What does your role as food economy program manager involve? My main job duty is to shepherd King County’s new Local Food Economy Initiative. Part of that involves creating awareness of the initiative and its goals throughout King County and assembling a prestigious group of private, public, and non-profit stakeholders to form the Kitchen Cabinet, an advisory panel to the Executive on how we can achieve the goals under the initiative. I will also complete any necessary research and help put into action processes that are essential to moving the initiative… Read More
Employees partner to produce career expo for veterans
When the Washington State Convention Center started to see more veterans applying to their job openings, they realized they wanted to do something to help veterans improve their job seeking skills. So, they teamed up with King County Veterans Program and WorkSource Seattle-King County to put on a Career Expo for Veterans and their spouses. “This partnership reflects a strong local commitment to our veterans and the sense of community we are building around them,” said Nancy Loverin, the King County Veteran’s Program Manager and the acting workforce development services administrator with… Read More
Thanks to County support, a new department takes shape
One year ago, a rare event took place in King County government: A new department was added to the county’s roster. The Department of Public Defense came into being on July 1, 2013, when nearly 400 public defenders, mitigation specialists, investigators, paralegals and support staff transitioned from one of four nonprofit law firms to County employment. The creation of the department occurred after a ruling by the state Supreme Court in a long-contested class-action lawsuit; according to the high court, the public defense employees were “arms and agents” of the county and… Read More
Nine selected for Bridge Fellowship pilot
Nine employees from across King County have been selected to participate in the inaugural Bridge Fellowship Program as part of the County’s commitment to provide leadership and development opportunities to employees. This year’s Bridge Fellowship participants are: Debra Baker, Project Manager, DPD Markeith Blackshire, Park Specialist II, DNRP Sung Cho, Social Worker, DCHS Leeza Jones, Assistant Accountant, DES Daniel Kenny, Mechanic, DOT Ebony Martin, Personal Recognizance Investigator, DAJD Barbara Pastores, Transit Operator, DOT Kimberlee Sawyer, Wastewater Treatment Operator, DNRP Bill Stockman, Transit Superintendent, DOT The nine fellows were selected in April from… Read More
Employee News 