King County first in the nation to order new hybrid fire truck
Crossposted from the DES Express
King County International Airport-Boeing Field (KCIA) is the first airport in the nation to finalize the purchase of a hybrid electric fire engine. The Striker Volterra 6×6 Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicle is made by Oshkosh Airport Products, a division of Pierce Manufacturing Inc. The new rig will complement the airport’s existing diesel-powered firefighting vehicles, also made by Oshkosh, and will allow the airport to retire its oldest diesel fire truck. Read more.
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Recognizing 37 years of service of retiring DJA Director Barb Miner
Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) Director Barb Miner is retiring after 37 years with King County. While her last official day is July 21, her last day in the office is Friday, July 14, which King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Patrick Oishi and Chief Administrative Officer Linda Ridge have proclaimed “Barb Miner Day.”
“Barb’s commitment to excellence and quality have helped shape DJA into the high performing Clerk’s Office it is today,” they said.
View the official proclamation here and congratulations Barb! Thank you for your service.
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ARFF attend live fire training in Montana
Crossposted from the King County Sheriff’s Newsletter
The King County International Airport’s Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF) Team recently completely rigorous live fire training. The training was held at the esteemed Rocky Mountain Emergency Services Training Center in Helena, Montana.
During this intensive training program, the ARFF team demonstrated their excellent skills by fearlessly combating full-scale aircraft fires. Equipped with their specialized fire trucks, they showcased their proficiency in extinguishing these formidable blazes. However, their training didn’t stop there.
The team also engaged in simulated scenarios where they skillfully navigated their way into burning aircrafts. These exercises allowed them to practice crucial emergency aircraft shutdown procedures, while also honing their abilities in search and rescue operations. Their objective was to ensure the safety and well-being of any potential victims trapped within the aircraft.
This comprehensive training regimen not only serves to maintain the ARFF team’s unparalleled expertise but also fulfills a vital requirement set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is imperative for the ARFF team to maintain their credentials, and this training plays a pivotal role in meeting those standards.
View video from the training here.
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DNRP’s Shin Yu Pai talks with disability activist Alice Wong
Shin Yu Pai is not just a storyteller for King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP). Among her other accomplishments — and accolades — she’s the author of eleven books of poetry, the current Civic Poet for the City of Seattle, and host of the KUOW award-winning podcast Ten Thousand Things.
Recently, Shin Yu had a conversation for her podcast with disability activist Alice Wong, founder of the Disability Visibility Project and author of the best-selling memoir Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life. Growing up in a suburb of Indianapolis the child of Chinese immigrants, Wong was already out of place in the predominantly white, affluent community, despite her very supportive family. Her disability, which affected her from a very young age and gradually, but steadily overtook her body, only encouraged her to use her voice for others in the disabled community.
Shin Yu’s episode A voice breaks barriers is a discussion with Alice Wong about what happens “when a public personality actually loses their voice,” replacing it with an app, and “what happens to that sense of self?” Listen to the episode here.
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FSA mid-year check
We’re more than halfway through 2023, and it’s a good time to check your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) balances and take steps to make sure you spend your remaining funds before the end of the year. Here’s some additional reminders:
Health Care FSAs
- Use Health Care FSA funds to purchase summer-related items such as sunscreen, first aid kits, and prescription sunglasses.
- Schedule any necessary back-to-school check-ups and sports physicals if you have children.
- Many over-the-counter items are FSA-eligible, such as pain relievers, cold and allergy medicine, antacids, and feminine care. See the complete list of Health Care FSA Eligible & Ineligible Expenses. You can also shop online at the FSA Store.
- This year, you can roll over up to $610 of unused funds into next year. Any other remaining funds in your account are forfeited.
Day Care FSAs
- Use your Day Care FSA to pay for day care or dependent care expenses for your child under age 13, disabled spouse, or dependent parent so you can work or attend school full-time.
- Day Care FSA funds can also be used to pay eligible family members to watch your children.
- Online or virtual day cares and camps are not eligible for reimbursement, according to IRS regulations. See the complete list of Day Care FSA Eligible & Ineligible Expenses.
- If you do not use all your Day Care FSA funds within the plan year (Jan. 1—Dec. 31, 2023), any remaining funds will be forfeited.
For additional information, go to Flexible Spending Accounts. If you have questions about your FSA benefits, contact Navia Benefit Solutions at 425-452-3500 or email Navia Benefit Solutions.
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Moving stories from the King County Refugee Resettlement Hotel program
Crossposted from Cultivating Connections
“When he entered their private room and saw they had a small kitchen with a two-burner stove and a sink that spit out clear water, he called his mom in Afghanistan. ‘We have everything in here,’ he [Ahmad] told her.”
The Seattle Times, recently published an article, “A King County refugee program turned 2 hotels into communities of support” on the efforts of the DCHS team, partnerships with neighboring jurisdictions, state partners, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Together, this program impacted the lives of 793 people, including Ahmad. Read more.
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What’s on in Seattle for MLB All-Star Week
Friday marks the start of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week in Seattle. Throughout the weekend and leading up to Tuesday’s All-Star Game, employees can check out several activations around the area, many of them free-of-cost.
So whether you’re going to the stadium to catch one of the games or just out enjoying the summer weather, check out the Visit Seattle page for activities to participate in!
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What makes a place worthy of preservation? King County Landmarks Coordinator Sarah Steen shares her thoughts
Crossposted from Keeping King County Green
King County is creating a new approach to historic preservation. The field aims to protect physical reminders of a community’s past, but the traditional approach to historic preservation tends to overlook historically marginalized groups within those communities.
Sarah Steen, landmarks coordinator for the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, is working to bring a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion to King County’s Historic Preservation Program. Sarah explains her perspective on how to make historic preservation a more inclusive space. Read more.
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July is BIPOC Mental Health Month
Established in 2008 in honor of Bebe Moore Campbell, the formally recognized National Minority Mental Health Awareness month was created to bring awareness to the unique mental health struggles that underrepresented groups in the U.S. experience. Anyone can experience mental health challenges; they do not discriminate based on race, age, gender or identity. At the same time, one’s background and identities can present unique experiences, specific barriers, and opportunities to get support.
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Help us recruit your next teammate to King County
Have you noticed some of the new outreach and marketing being done to attract candidates to King County? There is a small, creative team within the Department of Human Resources’ Talent Acquisition team who are creating tools to support centralized outreach and marketing. Some of those tools include social media blocks that we released for Mental Health Awareness Month, which you may have seen online.
The team’s efforts were designed to bring visibility and voice to county-wide recruitment with coordinated messaging at no cost to departments. Examples include advertising on El Rey radio in February and a yearlong marketing campaign at the ShoWare Center. The team also created the billboard below that ran for the month of February and is running again in 10 locations for the month of July. All of these efforts are meant to keep King County in the conversation for people looking for their first or next career opportunity.
Recruiters are using social media blocks developed by the team to increase our outreach and marketing using a visual image/story as part of job postings on LinkedIn. The team has built over 180 unique images for recruiters to choose from along with creating a user guide on how to post jobs (you can even set them up in advance to launch on a specific date). To assess the effectiveness of this program, the team developed an eight-week contest where 30 recruiters opted to participate by posting on LinkedIn with the tools and we saw dramatic results. The contest resulted in an over 130% increase of applicants with 748 identifying LinkedIn as their source for finding and applying for a job at King County.
What can employees and hiring managers do to support the outreach and marketing work?
We are currently working on a method to make the images available to employees outside of the recruiter role. In the meantime, you can work with your recruitment team by going to LinkedIn to “like” or “repost” their recruitment post. This simple task of “echoing” their post creates an added ripple and expands the networking effort to your network (and often beyond) – exponentially increasing the visibility and reach.
We know that best practice in recruiting using social media is to include personal stories and to use images to attract the viewers to stay longer. Check in with your department’s HR to learn more about their recruitment efforts. We encourage you to include #IworkforKingCounty and #GoPublic, and to add a personal note where you can when posting. Thanks for living the “We are one team” value!
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