King County and City of Seattle announce updates to employee vaccine mandate
In alignment with updated Public Health – Seattle and King County guidance, Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Bruce Harrell announced today that King County and the City of Seattle will no longer require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of employment effective today. Throughout the pandemic, King County and the City of Seattle have used the most up-to-date recommendations and expertise from Public Health officials to inform policy decisions to adapt to the conditions and threats from the virus. To keep employees and the community safe and healthy, in mid-2021… Read More
Moving Forward Together: The Importance of Indigenous Voices in Shaping Institutional Transformation
This edition marks the final video in a four-part series, closing out the community conversation that was jointly produced with Native American Leadership Council (NALC) and the Office of Equity and Social Justice in partnership with community members. In video 1, NALC members shared stories of how community advocacy can lead to policy and systems change within institutions. Indigenous Peoples Day as a paid holiday within King County being one example of that. In video 2, Urban Native Education Alliance emphasized the importance and benefit of funding Native centered programming and curriculum… Read More
Sheriff’s Office HR Heroes
Cross-posted from Sheriff’s Office Weekly Newsletter General Counsel Erin Overbey and Chief Jeff Flohr, Technical Services Division, recently presented the King County Sheriff’s Office Human Resources team with a Meritorious Service award for their service and dedication the past few years. This group navigated ever-changing protocols and worked on expediting the background process to improve hiring practices, all while never compromising the standards and core values of the Sheriff’s Office. According to Chief Flohr, this team is always quick to respond to requests, research problems that arise, and smooth out problems. And they… Read More
Indigenizing leadership, advocacy, and education
Throughout Native American Heritage Month, the Native American Leadership Council in partnership with the Office of Equity and Social Justice are bringing you videos in employee news featuring Indigenous and Native community members, King County employees, youth and elders on the movement to increase awareness of the diverse experiences, culture, stories of struggle and resilience within the Native community. In this video, we feature the youth and elders participating in the Urban Native Education Alliance’s (UNEA) Clear Sky program. UNEA represents an organization founded and maintained by the Native community in King… Read More
Executive Constantine on adoption of $15.8 billion biennial King County budget: A road map to our values
King County Executive Dow Constantine released a statement after the King County Council unanimously passed a $15.8 billion biennial budget that adopts major investments in his priority areas focused on battling the climate crisis and restoring our environment, ensuring every person has a home, ensuring a community where every person is safe, and uprooting racism and racial disparities. Read the full statement here.
Mail Services HQ new location as of Nov. 16
Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 16 Mail Services will have new headquarters on the second floor of King Street Center. They are in the process of identifying a new hub location to serve the Chinook Building and Courthouse sometime early in the new year. In the meantime, Mail Services will maintain occupancy (though not always staffing) at both the current Admin Mailroom (on the fourth floor of the Admin Building) and in the Chinook Mailroom, near the Chinook Building loading dock. Mail Services assures that while much is changing, one thing that won’t change… Read More
Professional Development Scholarship Program: Individual Development Plan
By Travis Gershaneck, Veteran Fellow, Department of Human Resources The first application period for the Coalition Labor Agreement Professional Development Scholarship Program is quickly approaching. The first period opens on Jan. 9, 2023, but it is recommended to have information for your application materials prepared well ahead of time. The completion of an Individual Development Plan (IDP) is not required to apply for this scholarship, but it is strongly recommended. The IDP is a roadmap that you create to identify your career goals, how to achieve them and how you will apply… Read More
Get rewarded for referring successful candidates to public safety jobs
At King County, we are one team. It’s one of our core values. And virtually every member of our team can now get directly involved in recruiting deputy sheriffs, corrections officers, and juvenile detention officers – and potentially be rewarded for it. Almost every King County employee is now eligible for a $5,000 bonus if they refer a successful candidate to our organization who is hired as a corrections officer, juvenile detention officer, or deputy sheriff. Know a friend, a cousin, or a former classmate who’s looking for a rewarding career in… Read More
A shameful day in our nation’s history
By Dow Constantine, King County Executive This morning’s ruling by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade is the culmination of a decades-long strategy by right-wing zealots to strip the essential right to abortion care from millions of Americans. On a personal level, I am outraged that my daughter will come of age in a society that treats her as a second-class citizen, without authority even over her own body; in a country that lacks basic supports for families, like universal paid family leave and affordable access to quality child care;… Read More
Innovation Award for Sustainability honorees
The Innovation Award for Sustainability goes to the Department of Natural Resources and Parks/Water and Land Resources Division – Lones Levee Setback and Floodplain Restoration Project. The 1,600-foot-long Lones Levee on the Green River had fallen into disrepair and no longer provides adequate protection from flooding and erosion. The Water and Land Resources Division worked with landowners and tribes to build a new, stronger levee that restored functional floodplains, improved salmon and native fish habitats, and supports forests and greenspace. Click here to learn more and watch the video of the presentation. Each… Read More
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