Employee Spotlights
Five questions with Lluvia Ellison-Morales, Animal Services Administrator, Department of Executive Services
Overcoming a life changing injury with strength, dignity and a committed team
Best of the best: King County Metro names Neal Safrin Operator of the Year
Employee shares the powerful experience of working in Juvenile Court
News
Stress less during the 2019 holiday season: Self-care tips to consider during this busy time of year
Crossposted from Balanced You The holidays can be full of joy, loved ones, and fabulous food. They also can be triggers for sadness and fatigue. It’s especially important to practice stress management this time of year. Balanced You and King County’s Making Life Easier program offer the following tips to help you enjoy the season to the fullest. Read more from Balanced You
Take winter by storm
Crossposted from DES Express Are you ready for fall and winter storms? Power outages? Snow? You’ll soon be receiving details from your leadership about your role in emergencies. Whether you are a first responder, a mission-critical employee, or a non-mission critical employee in emergencies, you’ll need to be prepared. You may need to be able to stay at or get to work and function in an emergency, get home from work, and be sure you and your family can weather a storm without assistance for several days. When a major earthquake hits, you’ll… Read More
King County Regional Veterans Court celebrates Veterans Day and court graduates, Nov. 14
Regional Veterans Court (RVC) will celebrate all veterans and graduates who have successfully completed the court program, on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, at 1 p.m. at the King County Courthouse (Courtroom E-326). All are welcome to attend! RVC is a specialized track within King County District Court that connects veterans in the justice system to health and behavioral health treatment, housing, and other services they may need to re-stabilize their lives. The court helps veterans stay out of further involvement in the justice system, and reduces the use of jails and emergency services by veterans…. Read More
Welcome Alysha Kaplan to the OEM
Crossposted from DES Express We recently had an opportunity to chat with Alysha Kaplan, the Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) new deputy director. She comes to King County from Washington State Emergency Management Division (WA EMD), where she worked for 13 years. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation. Read more from DES Express
Thanking our veterans for their service
Dear fellow King County employee, Every year, we dedicate November 11 as a day to honor America’s veterans. For more than 100 years we have joined together to salute the brave individuals who have served in our nation’s armed forces, placing themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedom and security. King County is home to some 115,000 veterans of all ages. Among their number are 1,277 people we work beside every day, fellow King County employees in every branch and department of King County government who have served or are currently… Read More
Pet of the Week: Sparky
Sparky is an 11 year-old, male, black and white, shorthair cat (A581600). His personality color is BLUE, meaning he is a gentle and loving boy who likes to take things slow. Sparky is very affectionate and he loves gentle head and cheek scratches. He has a big purr and doesn’t stop the whole time you are petting him! Read more at www.kingcounty.gov/adoptapet.
Featured Job: Equity and Social Justice Coordinator – Council
Salary: $74,185.00 – $99,770.00 Annually Location: Seattle, WA Job Type: Appointed Department: KCC – King County Council Job Number: 2019-10765 Closing: 11/14/2019 11:59 PM Pacific Learn more about this position or view all available positions.
2019 Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards
Last year, I launched the Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards to recognize individual employees and workgroups whose innovations and improvements are delivering excellence for our customers, our organization, and our region. The awards recognize the employees and teams who are achieving exceptional improvement results for the people we serve and driving us toward our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. In 2018, we honored 15 nominees and five award recipients for their hard work and service excellence. This year’s award categories will include Innovation, Leadership Excellence, and the Road… Read More
You can make a difference through the Annual Giving Drive
Dear fellow King County employee, The Annual Giving Drive brings King County employees together to advance education, provide clean water to villages all over the globe, expand access to safe, warm shelter, and buy food for some of the 1 in 6 Americans that struggle with hunger. It’s also an opportunity to help those impacted by natural disasters, here at home and around the world. The 2019 hurricane season devastated communities in the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, with Hurricane Dorian causing severe damage and loss of life in the Bahamas,… Read More
Raise the Sounders FC flag Friday at noon
The Seattle Sounders are on the verge of winning their second MLS Cup, and we want to cheer them on as they get ready to take on Toronto FC this Sunday. Join your fellow employees and fans at noon on Friday, Nov. 8, as we rally on the Administration Building Plaza (Fourth Avenue side) and raise the Sounders flag to celebrate our hometown club and Major League Soccer’s best fans. If you are on break or at lunch Friday at noon, or not working during this time, put on your Sounders gear and help… Read More
Discounts for Summit at Snoqualmie and UW Local Government Appreciation basketball games
Employees are reminded that beginning Nov. 7, prices will increase slightly for the Summit at Snoqualmie Corporate Season Pass. This includes Unlimited pass (covering adult, young adult, teen, youth, child, senior, and super senior) and Limited (covering adult, young adult, teen, youth, and senior) season passes. To purchase, follow these online instructions, sales will end Jan. 8, 2020. For more information about rates and discounts for the Summit at Snoqualmie 2019-2020 season, email summitstore@summiti90.com. King County employees are also welcome to take advantage of discounted tickets to two UW Husky basketball games. These games are part of… Read More
2019 Annual Giving Drive: Spotlight on nonprofits providing services and support for veterans
King County’s Annual Giving Drive Program is underway through Friday, Nov. 22, and almost 1,200 nonprofits are taking part this year. Throughout this year’s drive, we’ll be featuring four nonprofits in different categories. This week, we’re highlighting nonprofits that provide services and support for Veterans and their families in honor of Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Heartbeat Serving Wounded Warriors (9525) PO Box 610, Onalaska, WA 98570 – The mission of the foundation is to provide emergency assistance, morale building programs, and innovative therapeutic services for wounded warriors and their families. OARS For Women… Read More
Have your say on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5
Dear Colleagues, It’s election time! You should have received your ballot for the November 5, 2019 General Election. If you haven’t, make sure to get a replacement ballot online or call 206-296-VOTE. I know the ballot this year is a little overwhelming. The entire front page is state ballot measures and advisory votes (don’t get me going on those advisory votes, ugh). All candidate races and local ballot measures are on the back – so make sure to flip that giant ballot over and vote the back as well! The good news… Read More
Discount for 2019 WildLights at Woodland Park Zoo and Sesame Street Live!
King County employees can now receive 10% off full-price tickets for WildLights, from Nov. 29 through Jan. 5, and see wild animals and wild places recreated in over 800,000 sparkling energy-efficient LED lights. Adult tickets are $15.26 (regularly $16.95), children tickets are $11.66 (regularly $12.95), and toddlers are free. Buy tickets at this link. Sesame Street Live! Make Your Magic is at the acesso Showare Center in Kent, WA, Dec. 11-12, 2019. Tickets can be purchased by calling 866-248-8740, option 1. For questions call the number or email FeldDirectGroups@feldinc.com. Savings will be applied at time of purchase. Order… Read More
Tech Tip: Microsoft to shut off “ToDo” application
In preparation for a change that Microsoft is making to King County’s Office 365 setup, the “ToDo” application will no longer be supported or available for use. Access to this application is scheduled to be turned off on Nov. 6. If you use ToDo, you can recreate your ToDo tasks in Outlook as Outlook Tasks prior to Nov. 6. For help, please contact the Helpdesk by submitting a HelpDesk ticket or calling 206-263-HELP.
That’s a wrap on 2019 flu shots
Crossposted from Balanced You Every fall, King County’s Balanced You program provides worksite flu shot clinics for employees. In response to employee feedback, we expanded this year’s program by adding late afternoon clinic times, four new worksites, and more staff to better reach employees. Over the course of six weeks, we traveled to Woodinville, Auburn, Maple Valley and several worksites in between, serving more than 3,800 employees. Thank you! Our team works throughout the year to plan these clinics with several benefit partners, our flu shot vendor and employees that volunteer their time to coordinate… Read More
At DPD, a new unit helps people reclaim their lives
Crossposted from For the Defense For years, Detric Johnson felt as though there was nothing he could do to erase the mistakes of his past. He faced more than $10,000 in legal financial obligations (LFOs), a crippling burden. He had felonies on his record, most of them 25 years old. Without a driver’s license, he couldn’t land a job. “My life was in a shambles,” he said. All that changed over the course of a few months, when an old DUI and another driving charge caught up with him and he was assigned a… Read More
Trailhead Direct ridership increased 75 percent in its second full season
Ridership on Trailhead Direct – a transit-to-trails service co-led by King County Metro and King County Parks – increased 75 percent during the second year of a two-year pilot project. The improved service design made it possible for hikers to board any of the four routes and get to any trail in the Trailhead Direct network. Passengers boarded Trailhead Direct for more than 17,500 hikes in the second season of the two-year pilot project co-led by King County Metro and King County Parks, a 75 percent increase from last year. The transit-to-trails service added… Read More
National conference selects King County as site of annual conference, spotlights Zero Youth Detention
Crossposted from Zero Youth Detention Each year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation hosts a national conference for the over 300 jurisdictions in 40 states that have signed on to implement its Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). This year, the conference was hosted in King County, from October 16-18, in part to showcase the work of King County’s Zero Youth Detention and essential community partnerships. “I started volunteering. I found community, and they saw gifts in me I didn’t know I had,” said Durell Green, describing to conference attendees the transition that took him from time in… Read More
Food drive underway
The 2019 Northwest Harvest Food Drive has begun and runs through Nov. 22. Collection boxes are being distributed to King County buildings. Feel free to get creative and hold competitions to encourage donations! If a box gets full and you would like a replacement, please contact Angela Strong of the Facilities Management Division of the Department of Executive Services. Last year the generous employees of King County gathered 3,702 pounds of food. Click here for more information about Northwest Harvest and their mission.
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build strong communities, and make our region a great place to live and work.
Our 15,000 employees work every day to make King County
a welcoming community where every person can thrive.
