Employee News
Telling the stories of King County employees
Michael Jacobson, Deputy Director of Performance, Strategy and Budget, has been recognized by the Association of Government Accountants with their 2018 Excellence in Government Leadership Award. This nationally recognized award is given to professionals who exemplify and promote excellence in government financial management, outstanding leadership, and innovative management procedures. It recognizes the cumulative achievements of state or local government professionals who have served as a role model and consistently exhibited the highest personal and professional standards. “This award represents cumulative career achievements, all of which were available to me due to the… Read More
Over the past year, KCIT and Employee News have shared a range of great Skype for Business articles. Here’s a rollup, in case you missed any! Tech Tip: Skype for Business: How to Skype with external customers: The Skype for Business (Lync/UC) account on your computer is a simple and effective way to have meaningful (remote) meetings with clients, partners and customers even if your client, partner or customer doesn’t have a Skype for Business account. Tech Tip: Skype Bite – How to Use Instant Messaging: Want to get in touch with someone fast?… Read More
Crossposted from The Downstream Blog Aeronautical engineers, consultants, graphic designers, and Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals formed an unlikely, but unstoppable, team at King County’s Water and Land Resources Division last year. The project team’s short-term goal was to map the stormwater drainage system within parts of unincorporated King County, an assignment that allowed them to test their field skills and environmental passion. To help accomplish this, a team was brought together as part of an ongoing effort to map stormwater drainage system that had not been inventoried, as required by King… Read More
The 2018 Count Us In report found 12,112 people experiencing homelessness across the region on January 26, 2018, including 5,792 people sheltered in emergency shelters, safe havens and transitional housing and 6,320 people on the streets, in vehicles or staying in tents or encampments (both sanctioned and unsanctioned). The count includes a 15 percent increase in unsheltered people and a four percent increase overall, the smallest increases in homelessness in the region in the past four years. The biggest improvement was a 31 percent reduction in veteran homelessness, the result of increased… Read More
Crossposted from Election Connection We’re proud to share that we recently won several awards, three for our voter access programs and two for videos we created last year. NACo awards-transparentFirst things first, we received three awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for the great way we’re improving voter access for residents here in King County. NACo’s annual Achievement Awards recognize programs that are innovative and enhance services for residents. We won the 2018 Achievement Award from NACo in two different categories. We will be formally recognized for these awards at… Read More
Linda Robson, Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention Communications Specialist, wrote Giving inmates the skills to clean up at work and in life as the In Depth column for the November 2017 edition of the department’s monthly employee newsletter, which we featured in KC Employee News. Linda’s piece won a 2018 Gold Hermes Creative Award in the Writing category for Publication Article in an international competition hosted by the Association of Marketing Communication Professionals. In Greek mythology, Hermes is the Olympian god of orators and wit, of literature and poets, and invention… Read More
In case you missed it: Whether it’s on your county-issued mobile device or your own personal device, KCIT strongly recommends that you update the Operating System when your provider releases OS updates. These updates keep your device free of viruses, make it difficult for hackers to gain access to your information and help your existing apps work better. KCIT is rolling out Exchange Online throughout the county. This allows employees to access King County email anytime, anywhere and from any device if that device has the most updated software. For our security… Read More
Michael Jenkins is a King County Master GIS Specialist, Developer and Analyst with a focus on enterprise system design, and administration and application development. Michael’s King County GIS Center team manages the King County Geographic Information System, King County’s cooperative, multi-department, enterprise GIS; providing efficient, high-quality GIS leadership, coordination, infrastructure, and services to meet the business needs of our customers and clients in King County government, the Puget Sound region and beyond With more than two decades on the King County GIS Center team, Michael has seen and done a lot! In… Read More
Congratulations to Jennifer Hills, director of King County’s Office of Risk Management Services! She’s been named Public Risk Manager of the Year by PRIMA, a risk management association for public agencies. Jennifer received the award during PRIMA’s annual conference in Indianapolis. Jennifer has been a King County employee for nearly 20 years and has spearheaded several initiatives, including implementation of Enterprise Risk Management. ERM is moving King County from being a risk-averse organization to one that takes smart risks that enhance value. The award also honors Jennifer’s staff at ORMS who have… Read More
Closing: 06/28/18 11:59 PM (GMT -8:00) $21.54 – $27.39 Hourly Seattle, WA Term Limited Temporary, Full Time, 40 hrs/wk Human Resources Division Job Number: 2018LL08197 Ruth Woo (photo by George Liu for Northwest Asian Weekly) King County has an exciting fellowship opportunity for those who have a demonstrated commitment to public service. The Ruth Woo Emerging Leaders Fellowship is named after the revered community leader who was not only a community leader, but a mentor to many elected officials, and she dedicated her life to public service. In her honor, King County… Read More
June is Ride Transit Month, and King County Metro keeps you informed! Metro provides transit service to 122 million riders each year across King County, and uses Twitter to update riders. Stay informed, and get important information about any changes to service on your route! Join more than 125,000 others and follow King County Metro on Twitter today @kcmetrobus!
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC By thunder, Thor is our Pet of the Week! This young Australian Shepherd mix was brought in by his previous owner because they could not keep him. They described Thor as playful, timid, and protective. Thor is definitely a handsome boy with an overbite that makes him cute and unique! He is also smart and knows how to sit, stay, come, down, and shake. Since Thor is an independent boy who likes to do his own thing, he’s one of our “Rambunctious Red” pets – full of… Read More
King County Executive Dow Constantine and Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams launched Balanced You last week, the successor to the County’s award-winning Healthy Incentives℠ program. Balanced You offers a variety of health and well-being tools to support employees so they can feel good, get the most out of life, and do their best work for the people of King County. Balanced You is built from the ideas and recommendations of employees across the County. Learn more about Balanced You in this short video and on the Balanced You website at KingCounty.gov/BalancedYou.
Crossposted from King County Parks Plog Thank you to all of our participants and partners for your support! Your involvement helps make your King County parks a better place. We appreciate your involvement and thank you for making Your Big Backyard that much more awesome. Visit the Parks Plog and @iheartkcparks on Twitter to check out a few of the photos we’ve shared, and we’ll see you next year for the 10-year anniversary of the BBY5K!
If you want to pre-order a King County Pride T-shirt, orders and payment are due to Public Health by Friday, June 8. For guaranteed delivery of a specific size, download and complete the order form. T-shirts are $9 each and available in adult and children’s sizes. A limited number of T-shirts in adult sizes will be available for free on parade day, June 24, on a first-come, first-served basis. Completed forms and cash/checks can be delivered to Mariah Taylor, 12th floor of Chinook, CNK-PH-1250.
King County Executive Dow Constantine released the following statement on the passing of Executive Randy Revelle, who served from 1981-1985: “I considered Executive Randy Revelle’s legacy of public service last month when I announced a plan to protect tens of thousands of acres of farmlands, forests and shorelines. It was Executive Revelle who first launched the Conservation Futures Program in 1982, following a proposal from Executive Spellman. For many decades, we have protected green space in our county, and I am honored to have the opportunity to build on his original plan…. Read More
The next King County community repair event, Kent Repair Time, is at the Kent Library Tuesday, June 12 from 3 to 6 p.m. The King County EcoConsumer public outreach program sponsors free repair events around King County, where residents can bring small household items and clothing and our experienced, all-purpose fixers and sewers will work on them. You can learn repair tips as well! People bring in items such as lamps, vacuums, fans, chairs, tools, VCRs, music players, blenders, toasters, toys, pants, dresses, hijabs and more. Our overall success rate at these… Read More
If you are looking for an opportunity to expand your skills, grow as a leader, and gain a deeper understanding of King County government, why not apply to be part of the 2018 King County Bridge Fellowship Program. The fellowship is an 18-week professional development program that expands participants’ mindsets, strengthens current competencies, and helps participants develop new skills. Applications for the 2018 Bridge Fellowship Program are due this Friday, June 8, 2018. Debra Baker, a Bridge Fellow herself, now manages the program and says, “The Bridge Fellowship Program is an energizing… Read More
You’re invited! The next event in the ESJ Speaker Series is MOHIA, sponsored by KCIT, and takes place June 19 from noon to 1 p.m. in room 123 of the Chinook building.
King County — which has converted methane to natural gas for more than 30 years — is now a leading producer of clean, renewable biofuel that can be used by commercial vehicles. Converting waste into clean energy The purified renewable natural gas produced at King County’s South Treatment Plant in Renton can replace diesel fuel in commercial vehicles, capitalizing on a federal program designed to power more transportation with renewable energy. Renewable natural gas sales last year yielded more than $6 million in revenue for King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division. “We are… Read More