Employee News
Telling the stories of King County employees
Executive Constantine recently launched a Get to know the Senior Leadership Team video series with a video featuring Chief Performance Officer Gary Kurihara. In this second video, we spotlight Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams, what she is working on, and what brought her to King County. Click the image above to watch the video. If you missed Gary’s video you can catch it here, and look for the full series of videos over the next couple of months as we feature Budget Director Dwight Dively, Chief of Staff Rachel Smith and Chief… Read More
Crossposted from Best Starts for Kids Blog Robots whizzing across the floor while kids learn coding languages to control them. Creative writing exercises that become movement-based art about what it’s like to be a young person today. A youth-led book club discussing The Hate U Give, a young adult novel about the aftermath of racist police murder. These are just a few examples of the incredible summer learning opportunities we saw while celebrating Summer Learning Day last week with our partner School’s Out Washington. As part of hundreds of Summer Learning Day celebrations across… Read More
King County Metro will offer more frequent and reliable bus service on some of its most popular routes beginning this fall thanks to significant investments by Amazon and the City of Seattle. Amazon’s investment will provide 22 additional weekday trips for two years across some of Metro’s busiest routes serving West Seattle, Shoreline, Ballard, and Capitol Hill. The additional service provides room for roughly 1,700 weekday boardings, and includes the RapidRide E Line and C Line, and Routes 8, 40, 62, and 63. The additional service hours will be part of Metro’s… Read More
Catherine Hinrichsen reached out to Executive Constantine and King County on Twitter after having had a great customer experience with the Vital Stats team at Harborview Medical Center. “Wish all interactions with local govt agencies were like this. Thanks to you & staff!” Kudos, Vital Stats!
The King County Community Court in Redmond will be holding its grand opening celebration Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. Visit the new site and click on the infographic sample below for more information.
Crossposted from Public Health Insider Statement from Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health—Seattle & King County, responding to news that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services aggressively attempted to water down international support for breastfeeding through the World Health Organization. “The notion that any national or international health agency would not completely support breastfeeding is truly shocking. Breastfeeding is broadly endorsed by both the medical community and nutrition community – and for very good reasons. Decades of research have demonstrated benefits such as: Breast milk supplies antibodies, which lowers the… Read More
Crossposted from Noxious Weeds Blog Although it is perhaps one of the prettiest noxious weeds, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is widely recognized throughout North America as a highly invasive and damaging weed in wetlands and along shorelines. Vigorous perennial roots and rhizomes, combined with incredibly prolific seed production, result in one of the most successful invasive plants we have on this continent. Unfortunately, dense populations of purple loosestrife significantly reduce the habitat quality of wetlands and shorelines for waterfowl, amphibians, fish and other critters. Purple loosestrife does not play well with other plants and… Read More
Crossposted from Public Health Insider By Lindsay Bosslet It’s been a full year since Washington’s distracted driving law went into effect, but according to a survey of 900 King County drivers, there is still plenty of confusion about what is – and isn’t – allowed. Let’s explore the misconceptions. “It’s illegal to text and drive, but it’s fine if you’re at a stop light or during standstill traffic.” It’s not fine! You can get cited for holding your phone for any reason at a stop light – and for good reason. Read… Read More
King County Superior Court announced their most recent addition to the bench Monday with a tweet. PJ Laura Inveen swears in Marshall Ferguson, our newest Superior Court judge. Judge Ferguson comes with experience in real estate-related civil litigation, employment discrimination and workers’ comp. Welcome and congratulations! Welcome and congratulations, Judge Ferguson!
Crossposted from Public Health Insider By Meredith Li-Vollmer Temperatures this week are expected to rise into the low 90s, with some humidity. To my friends in Los Angeles and New Mexico, that’s scarcely hot enough to raise an eyebrow. But here in King County, most people don’t have air conditioning, so our local emergency departments see an uptick of people with serious health problems on days like this. Common ailments include heart problems, stroke, and kidney failure, as well as heat stroke. Many people don’t know that they are at risk for… Read More
The official Twitter account of King County Executive Dow Constantine is a great source of information on all the latest happenings throughout King County! The county’s new transportation partnerships with Amazon and City of Seattle. The county’s transition to a 100 percent electric bus fleet. And, there’s much more than transit! Elections, Public Health and many other of the Executive’s priorities are part of the conversation. Follow @kcexec on Twitter today!
Closing: 08/09/18 11:59 PM (GMT -8:00) Salary: $118,497.60 – $150,196.80 Annually Location: King County Administration Building, Seattle Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hours per week Department: Executive Services – Human Resources Division Job Number: 2018SE08362 You will be a part of the top HR executive team and work in collaboration with the Executive’s Office, the Executive’s Office of Equity and Social Justice, and the King County Council to champion our Workforce Equity strategy and to ensure it informs the service we provide and how we deliver it. You will report directly to… Read More
Bring your low-backed chairs, blankets and snacks – and enjoy a relaxed evening in the park! King County Parks is hosting a variety of Big Backyard Movie Nights throughout the summer. The movies will be projected onto a 40-foot-tall inflatable movie screen, so invite your friends, teammates and family! Movies start after sunset. Parks kicked off the movie series with the showing of Karate Kid on Saturday, July 7 at Ravensdale Park, and will have many more throughout the summer. Check out @iheartkcparks’ Events page on Facebook for more information!
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC Eggsy is a 12-year-old male cat; a domestic short hair (ID #A557387). This affectionate lovebug would be thrilled to cuddle up in your calm and quiet home. He was brought to the shelter by a Good Samaritan in early May 2018. Eggsy longs for a slow-paced home environment, where he can enjoy gradually get to know you and enjoy petting. When he feels truly settled, it’s likely that Eggsy might knead or “make muffins” for you. Eggsy’s personality color is BLUE. This sweetie would do best in… Read More
Crossposted from Metro Matters By Jeff Switzer It’s another first at Metro and in the country: A fast-charging station for battery electric buses debuted at Bellevue Base this week, newly installed in a bay where buses are cleaned and fueled each day. Having a charging station installed above the service bay makes it unique in North America, according to electric battery bus manufacturer Proterra. The move makes for efficient and effective maintenance and recharging. It also replaces a slow-charge old-school plug that maintenance staff used to use to recharge battery electric buses…. Read More
County employees do amazing work on behalf of our residents, which I was able to see firsthand in May when I visited King County’s Youth Services Center (YSC) to walk in the shoes of Juvenile Detention Nurse Cynthia Marino and Juvenile Detention Supervisor Dynese Greer. They help youth in King County who enter the criminal justice system leave it with a better chance of living a happy, productive, successful life. Accompanied by Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams, I met with Juvenile Detention Deputy Director Angela Toussaint who gave us access badges for… Read More
When it comes to health, one size never fits all. Some of us work on buses or drive trucks, and others work in treatment plants or offices. Balanced You is working to offer more choices that take into account where, when, and how we work. The Balanced You Worksite Fund is an exciting new program to help you and your coworkers bring your own good ideas and solutions to life. When you apply for a Worksite fund grant, you have an opportunity to create positive change. Applications are due by noon Monday, July… Read More
The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Rescue Dive Unit deploys specially trained and equipped deputies who are responsible for water-related law enforcement, investigations, rescue and recovery work. Members of the Marine Rescue Dive Unit train for marine rescues twice a month to be ready when a swimmer needs them. KIRO 7’s Allison Grande caught up with Sgt. Mark Rorvik and Deputy Chris Bedker on the Snoqualmie River during their last training session. “I think rivers, they’re inherently dangerous unless you have specific training and the right equipment,” said Rorvik in the KIRO… Read More
Igniting Employee Development and Introduction to Strategic Planning are two trainings we’ve had in our spotlight this month, and there are still seats available! Learn more about and register for Igniting Employee Development and Introduction to Strategic Planning on Eventbrite before the sessions fills up, and – the web site is back up! – visit Learning and Development on KingCounty.gov to learn more about trainings and other opportunities to invest in YOU!
Walking into the Metro Transit East Base in Bellevue can be disorienting. The facility is large, with buses and equipment scattered throughout and people moving busily as they go about their work. The sound of drills are heard in the background and the smell of a mechanic shop tickles your nose. Beautiful, hand-painted signs adorn the entrance to each work station and stand out among the otherwise generic facility walls. These signs were created by Don Charbonneau and are part of what he calls “East Base flair.” Charbonneau, who works in the… Read More