KCC 2.15 training: Protecting immigrants, refugees, and limited English speakers

On Feb. 26, 2018, the Metropolitan King County Council adopted ground-breaking immigration legislation designed to protect everyone’s safety and civil rights. While still adhering to federal law, King County Code 2.15 Immigrant, Refugees and Language Access Ordinance (KCC 2.15) prevents the use of County funds and resources on federal immigration enforcement and outlines the steps the County uses to protect immigrants and refugees seeking services from the County, or who are victims or witnesses of crime. “This legislation was developed with consultation from community organizations and leaders that advocate for equitable public… Read More

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a day to celebrate the rich heritage, culture, contributions, and resilience of Indigenous people in our region and here at King County. Our region benefits tremendously from the generations of Native American people on whose land we currently live. There are 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington State, and King County is home to a thriving Native American population from Tribal nations across the country. We are on the unceded ancestral lands of the Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Tulalip, and Suquamish Tribes, and the Duwamish people.  The legacy… Read More

Matt Canady receives Executive’s People Leader Award

Each year, Executive Constantine holds the Performance Excellence Awards, which honor employees and workgroups at King County for their exceptional contributions to performance, leadership, and innovation. These leaders embody the Executive Branch values and strive to reach our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. The People Leader Award honors a leader below the department or division leadership level who directly manages staff and encourages and empowers their team to push for outcomes that make King County a better place for our employees and the people we serve. The… Read More

Cecelia Hayes recipient of Executive’s Individual Contributor Award

The Leadership Excellence Awards, part of Executive Constantine’s Performance Excellence Awards, honor King County leaders who embody our Executive Branch values and who strive to reach our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. The Individual Contributor Award honors an employee who does not directly manage staff, but who makes significant and tangible leadership contributions. The 2020 honoree for the Individual Contributor Award is Cecelia Hayes, a Senior Practitioner in Equity, Social Justice and Engagement for the Department of Executive Services. Cecelia is committed to moving King County forward in its… Read More

Innovation Award for Sustainability

The King County Innovation Awards – part of the Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards – seek to honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. They also met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. The Innovation Award for Sustainability went to the Biogas Optimization Team at the South Wastewater Treatment Plant. The team strategically allocated limited resources to… Read More

2020 Innovation Award for Equity and Social Justice honorees

The King County Innovation Awards honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year’s Equity and Social Justice Award recipient is the Department of Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Community Mitigation and Recovery Team (CMR). These honorees consider challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address important needs. They met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. The pandemic disproportionately affected communities that have been historically underserved. To mitigate the… Read More

2020 Innovation Award for People honorees

The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees and teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. These honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner that reflects our True North values. This year’s People Innovation Award recipient is the Department of Human Resource’s Mental Health Initiative. “With the twin public health crises of COVID-19 and racism, it became imperative that we were taking care… Read More

Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month: Environmental Health Services hosts event with Chief Justice Gonzalez of the Washington State Supreme Court, Sept. 9

A few years ago, when Environmental Health Services (EHS) Program Manager Greg Wilson was asked to create a program that looked for the future workforce for Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC), he not only ran with it, but wholeheartedly embraced the opportunity. Today he serves as the Program Manager for the EHS Division’s Education Engagement Strategy Program. The Program focuses on providing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) opportunities for middle school to college-age students that include internships, work study, and job shadow opportunities. It also offers an… Read More

2020 Innovation Award for Service honorees

The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. This year, however, the Service award honors not individuals, but teams who pulled together to address the urgent needs of the COVID pandemic in our community. The True North values of “We are one team,” “We solve problems,” and above all, “We respect all people” drove these teams to come up with creative and effective solutions that truly aided some of the most vulnerable in our community. Due to the pandemic,… Read More

2020 Innovation Award for Cost honorees

The King County Innovation Awards seek to honor employees within department teams whose projects, improvements, and ingenuity deliver exceptional, measurable results. These honorees have considered challenges within their delivery of services to King County residents, and developed solutions that address an important need. Through the True North values of “We solve problems” and “We drive for results,” these honorees met each challenge in a creative and forward-thinking manner. Receiving the Innovation Award for Cost, which includes anything that is financially related and affects the County’s finances, is the Department of Executive Services… Read More