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Holiday travel? Metro will help you get there
Emergency exercise tests communications ahead of World Cup
King County Wins 2025 Geospatial Professional Network Award for Innovative AI-GIS System
Recognizing the service of Metro veterans
News
Disproportionality in the jury room
Three attorneys with King County’s Department of Public Defense are partnering with the Public Defender Association’s Racial Disparity Project to prove what they have seen over and over again in their work as felony public defenders: African-Americans are not only vastly under-represented on juries, they’re also under-represented in the jury pool. Ben Goldsmith and Twyla Carter, both felony attorneys in DPD’s The Defender Association Division (TDAD), and Daron Morris, deputy division director, hope to collect enough data to put forward a compelling case to court administrators and others in the criminal justice… Read More
Kudos! Wastewater Treatment Division employees
I am proud to announce that WTD employees have once again earned the Platinum Peak Performance Award for multiple years of consecutive 100 percent NPDES permit compliance for effluent limits for both West Point and South Plant. AND… Brightwater, Carnation, and Vashon treatment plants will all win Gold Awards this year! The Gold Awards honor treatment works that have achieved 100 percent compliance with their NPDES permit for an entire calendar year. West Point has achieved 100 percent compliance for 12 years, and South Plant has achieved this status for 16 years…. Read More
Project RAMPART saving lives with AEDs
The city of Duvall is now better equipped to respond to cardiac arrest calls thanks to Public Health’s Project RAMPART. Project RAMPART, an acronym for Regional Approach to Municipal Public Registry and Training, provides funding to cities within King County to purchase Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and train employees on how to use them. The project falls under Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Emergency Medical Services Division (EMS) and is funded by the EMS Levy. Duvall Police Department recently received two AEDs under Project RAMPART—one AED for their office and… Read More
Poetry on Buses showcases local voices
Starting in November, some of the spaces that contain advertisements on King County Metro Rapid Ride buses will display poetry instead. “It’s about local voices and art in your everyday life,” Tamar Benzikry-Stern, Project Manager for 4Culture’s Public Art program and Poetry on Buses, said. 4Culture, King County’s cultural service agency, is a public development authority which works with County departments to bring art into King County buildings, infrastructure and public places – including buses. This year, 4Culture and King County Metro are rebooting “Poetry on Buses,” a program that originally started in 1992. King County residents were asked to submit poems online and invited to… Read More
Second Pet Adoption Center opens in Kirkland
On June 13, Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) opened a second Pet Adoption Center. The new Eastside facility is located inside the Kirkland Petco. Since the grand opening, about 50 pets have been adopted from the Eastside center. “This translates to a quarter of our total adoptions during this time period,” said RASKC Operational Manager, Glynis Frederiksen. Seven years ago, only 45 percent of animals in King County shelters were being adopted or returned to their homes. Now the rate of adoption or return in King County is 85 percent…. Read More
Kudos! Patti Gravel, Customer Service Specialist, DCHS
Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) Education and Employment Resources employee, Patti Gravel is the first face that job seekers see when entering WorkSource Renton and she always greets them with a warm smile and a “how can I help you today?” Our unemployed job seekers appreciate Patti’s warmth and caring and she is a customer service champion for both job seekers and the staff at WorkSource Renton. She is always pleasant and helpful when staff needs anything from booking a room to directions within the Center. Job seekers find her… Read More
Kudos! King County earns national award for innovative program
King County has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The awards honor top county government programs that are innovative and enhance services for their residents. NACo recognized King County’s eAppeals – Online Property Assessment Appeals Program for its 2014 Achievement Award in the category of Information Technology. eAppeals allows property owners to file an appeal of their property valuation on-line. eAppeals users can compare the valuations of comparable properties, forecast potential tax savings and submit evidence to support their appeal digitally as part of the… Read More
Five Questions with Lisa Hillman, IT Service Delivery Manager, KCIT
1. What was your first role at King County? Public Health MIS Desktop Manager. I came to King County in June 2003 as a contract employee to temporarily backfill a departing MIS IT desktop manager (PCSA Manager) plus kick-start the Windows 98 to XP migration. Never working in public service, I didn’t plan on staying with the County beyond the contracted 910 hours however; I was instantly attracted to the mission, the people and the potential to make a difference. 2. What do you do as an IT SDM? It’s fun, diverse and… Read More
Working to combat homelessness in King County
Making homelessness in King County a rare event, and when it does occur, a brief and one-time experience, is the mission of the Committee to End Homelessness (CEH) King County, and its latest annual report details how it will achieve these goals. King County now has the third largest stock of homeless housing in the country, behind only New York City and Los Angeles, and yet on a single night, January 14, 2014, more than 3,123 individuals were living outside and another 6,171 individuals were in shelters or transitional housing, per the… Read More
Native Plant Salvage Program promotes financial and environmental sustainability
A small team of King County employees and many volunteers are making sure that native plants that would be impacted by development projects are finding new homes in revegetation and habitat restoration projects across the county. This season alone, 11,260 native plants were salvaged for the Water and Land Resource Division’s Native Plant Salvage Program. “The cool thing about this is that plants get used all over King County and not just on County-sponsored projects,” said Cindy Young, the ecologist who heads up the program. Volunteers also get to salvage plants for… Read More
S.N.A.C. helps families and kids to eat fresh and healthy
According to Elizabeth Kimball from Public Health – Seattle & King County, the key to teaching nutrition is to teach about the origin of food. “When you’re teaching nutrition it’s very hard to talk about nutrition without talking about food – eating food, tasting food and preparing, storing and packing food — all the logistics and practical elements of eating,” Kimball said. Kimball heads up Public Health’s Seattle Nutrition Action Consortium, or S.N.A.C. program. “One of the hallmarks of S.N.A.C. is all of our various projects include cooking, which I think is… Read More
Kudos! Jack Millman, Metro Transit Operator
I just wanted to write in and say that this bus driver totally made my night last week! I sometimes am nervous taking the bus this late at night by myself, but his friendly attitude greeting everyone as they came on the bus instantly put me at ease. He was joking and commenting about different locations along the route and made everyone smile. I wish I had caught his name, but hopefully you can pass along the note that I appreciated his friendly attitude. – K. Renee
Sheriff’s Marine Unit keeping local waters safe
Sergeant Jim Knauss and his unit of four deputies have a mission: to make sure boaters have a good time, but do so safely. “We’re out here every day, we’re out patrolling. We have at least two boats out and we’re looking for things that aren’t safe,” Knauss said in a recent story produced by King County TV. The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine and Dive Unit patrols eight contract cities and the unincorporated parts of King County, including water around Vashon Island, and in front of Shoreline and Burien. They also… Read More
DPD volunteers help former defendants get juvenile records sealed
Nearly once a month, three Department of Public Defense employees give over an evening to help adults struggling with the long-lasting repercussions of mistakes they made as teenagers. Some of the people who show up at the free legal clinic can’t get a job; others are denied housing; still others get by-passed for graduate school – all because of a criminal record from their days as a youth. The DPD employees – Kari Boyum, an attorney, Matthew Pang, also an attorney, and Ryan Gray, an investigator – work with law students and other… Read More
Five Questions with Lilly Simmering, Food Economy Program Manager, Department of Natural Resources and Parks
1. What does your role as food economy program manager involve? My main job duty is to shepherd King County’s new Local Food Economy Initiative. Part of that involves creating awareness of the initiative and its goals throughout King County and assembling a prestigious group of private, public, and non-profit stakeholders to form the Kitchen Cabinet, an advisory panel to the Executive on how we can achieve the goals under the initiative. I will also complete any necessary research and help put into action processes that are essential to moving the initiative… Read More
Employees partner to produce career expo for veterans
When the Washington State Convention Center started to see more veterans applying to their job openings, they realized they wanted to do something to help veterans improve their job seeking skills. So, they teamed up with King County Veterans Program and WorkSource Seattle-King County to put on a Career Expo for Veterans and their spouses. “This partnership reflects a strong local commitment to our veterans and the sense of community we are building around them,” said Nancy Loverin, the King County Veteran’s Program Manager and the acting workforce development services administrator with… Read More
Thanks to County support, a new department takes shape
One year ago, a rare event took place in King County government: A new department was added to the county’s roster. The Department of Public Defense came into being on July 1, 2013, when nearly 400 public defenders, mitigation specialists, investigators, paralegals and support staff transitioned from one of four nonprofit law firms to County employment. The creation of the department occurred after a ruling by the state Supreme Court in a long-contested class-action lawsuit; according to the high court, the public defense employees were “arms and agents” of the county and… Read More
Nine selected for Bridge Fellowship pilot
Nine employees from across King County have been selected to participate in the inaugural Bridge Fellowship Program as part of the County’s commitment to provide leadership and development opportunities to employees. This year’s Bridge Fellowship participants are: Debra Baker, Project Manager, DPD Markeith Blackshire, Park Specialist II, DNRP Sung Cho, Social Worker, DCHS Leeza Jones, Assistant Accountant, DES Daniel Kenny, Mechanic, DOT Ebony Martin, Personal Recognizance Investigator, DAJD Barbara Pastores, Transit Operator, DOT Kimberlee Sawyer, Wastewater Treatment Operator, DNRP Bill Stockman, Transit Superintendent, DOT The nine fellows were selected in April from… Read More
Drug Court employee helps offenders get lives back
Working as a King County Drug Court Case Manager is Yuka Hayashi’s dream job. “I am so happy that I’m here,” Hayashi said. “It’s such an opportunity to work for a program that helps so many people. There are people who walk in to the program that are so broken down. They have no family, no home, their health is bad— they have nothing. We have the opportunity to give them all these resources and I see people’s lives change.” Hayashi works with defendants enrolled in the King County Drug Diversion Court,… Read More
Healthy Incentives focuses on education at Express Market
The Healthy Incentives team knows health is more than just achieving bronze, silver or gold. “We care about people’s health overall, not just having them get to gold,” Lindsey Hoeft, a Healthy Incentives health educator said. One way Healthy Incentives is promoting overall health is by having a booth at the Seattle City Hall Pike Place Express Market this summer. “A lot of our King County Employees visit the market, so we thought this would be a good way to get people to try some new things and promote the fresh, local… Read More
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