Employee News
Telling the stories of King County employees
Food choices can support your immune health and help prevent type 2 diabetes. King County offers Omada—a personalized program that provides you with resources and support you need to maintain a well-balanced diet. Omada helps you reach your health goals with a personalized plan, dedicated health coach, and tools to track your health progress. King County employees and their family members can receive the Omada diabetes prevention program at no cost. Visit omadahealth.com/kingcounty to see if you qualify. Read more.
For six upcoming holiday concerts, employees can use promo code MERRY for 20% off the ticket cost and pay no handling fees. These concerts include: Holiday Pops, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m., Dec. 7 at 8 p.m., and Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. Canadian Brass: Making Spirits Bright, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Home Alone film – In concert with the Seattle Symphony, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m., Dec. 14 at 8 p.m., and Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. Handel Messiah, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20 at 8 p.m., Dec. 21 at 8 p.m., and Dec…. Read More
Crossposted from King County Parks From baseball to soccer, lacrosse to cricket, sports fields are an important part of our community. They’re a place to hone new skills, learn the value of working on a team, a place to come together over the love of the game, and an opportunity to exercise and improve mental and physical wellbeing. The 2020-2025 King County Parks Levy has a variety of projects and funds that go to creating and improving existing sports fields on King County Parks properties and in local cities throughout the county. Read more.
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC Like many animal shelters across the nation, Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) is overwhelmed with dogs and cats. To help ease the shelter space crunch, RASKC is waiving adoption fees for dogs through the end of the year during our “Home for the Holidays” promotion. “Our dog kennels have been consistently at or over capacity all year,” said RASKC assistant operations manager Tim Anderson. “I can’t recall that happening in the last twelve years. So, by waiving adoption fees, we hope we can find a… Read More
Crossposted from KC Emergency News Report Damage King County Emergency Management wants to know if last week’s windstorm caused you any damages. This information may help Washington request disaster assistance from the state and federal government. If your primary residence or business was damaged by the weather, we’d like to hear from you. Here is the link to report your damages. Property Tax Relief If your property (private and business) has been damaged in this storm, you may qualify for property tax relief. For more information on how to apply, go to Destroyed property… Read More
During this national time of thanksgiving, we would like to say how thankful we are for our employees and their dedication to making King County a welcoming community and a great place to live. Your work supporting and serving the 2.27 million people in our region does not go unnoticed. It is you, our employees, who move us forward, make an impact in people’s lives, and deepen our impact on the community. We give a special shout out to the employees who continue to serve King County over the Thanksgiving holiday – bus… Read More
Crossposted from DES Express King County Archives is excited to announce its new online exhibit that sheds light on an aspect of our local history: the development of disability rights and services in King County government. Thanks to funds received from the Washington Digital Heritage Grant, the Archives staff have digitized more than 400 items to bring these important stories to the forefront. The exhibit, Accessibility, Centered: A History of Disability Services in King County, highlights the efforts of disability advocates and showcases important milestones, including the first Washington State Special Olympics in the 1970s,… Read More
The 2025 Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration will be held Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Community members and King County employees are invited to join in honoring our nation’s foremost human rights leader and King County’s namesake. As part of the celebration, the Larry Gossett Service Award nominations are now open. The award recognizes and affirms an individual or organization that has made significant contributions in the areas of racial equity, social justice, and/or human rights in King County. For more information about the award nominations, click here.
The Administrative Professionals Program is excited to announce the Administrative Professional Recognitions for the third quarter of 2024, from July through September. These 18 individuals have been recognized for their excellence as administrative professionals at King County. View the recognitions here. The list includes: Alaina Emde, Alicia Warren, Amanda Knell, Carlos Bratcher, Cindy Hachtel, Danielle Hursh, Elizabeth Fong, Ithica Nolan-Williams, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Kristine Hanson, Laila McClinton, Lauren Olson, Marni Donnelly, My Huynh, Roger Bruckshen, Sam Wick, Sara Stefano, and Valerie Garza Thank you to the Administrative Specialists, Executive Assistants, Customer Service Specialists,… Read More
Crossposted from Metro Matters Chris Blandi is the Clark Kent of King County Metro’s Vehicle Maintenance: Quiet and unassuming, but a genuine Superman under his modest exterior, able to juggle multiple jobs keeping King County Metro’s bus fleet rolling while remaining cool and unruffled. His excellence as a mechanic was celebrated Monday when he was named Vehicle Maintenance Employee of the Year. Blandi, selected by his fellow vehicle maintenance team members for the honor, was lauded at a celebration at Metro’s Central Base. Read more.
Effective Jan. 1, 2025, a combined General Wage Increase (GWI) and Cost-Of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) of 5.5 percent will apply for employees represented by the King County Coalition of Unions and non-represented employees. Employees will start to see the increase on their paychecks after Jan. 1, 2025. You can find the 2025 Wage Tables here. Represented employees whose unions are not part of the Coalition of Unions should reach out to their union representatives for questions about their applicable increase. You can also review your union’s contract any time on this website. You can also reach out to… Read More
King County Executive Dow Constantine issued the following statement after the County Council unanimously approved the $10.2 billion budget for 2025, which includes significant investments in housing, health, safety, transportation, climate, and the environment. “This budget reflects King County’s values by directing investments toward our environment, shared prosperity, and support for those furthest from opportunity, access, and justice — building a welcoming community where every person can thrive. I want to extend my gratitude to the King County Council for their dedication in passing this budget for 2025, with special thanks to… Read More
Crossposted from the DES Express The Fleet Services team successfully completed the Motor Pool Dispatch Technology project in October. The project transitioned all Motor Pool Dispatch program vehicles from the previous Invers/CocoSoft reservation system to the new, modern, app-based WeGo technology. Users can expect a simplified reservation interface, keyless entry, and an overall smoother customer experience. “This project was over a year’s long effort,” said Andrew Cronholm, Deputy Director of Fleet Services. “Strong collaboration across all sections in the Fleet Services Team as well as KCIT made it possible. Kudos to those… Read More
As part of the ongoing Space Consolidation Project the FMD ID Access Office will be relocating from the Administration Building to the Chinook Building in late November. The ID Access Office will have limited availability during the move period as the team transitions to its new location. Important dates: Nov. 25 to 29 – ID Access Office closed for in-person services. Dec. 2 to 6 – ID Access open for limited appointments in Chinook. Please contact FMDIDAccess@kingcounty.gov for any badge or access related needs. In addition to preparing to relocate, for the… Read More
Crossposted from the DAJD newsletter Five King County Juvenile Detention Officers graduated from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien on Oct. 31. Read more.
Strong wind gusts are forecasted in our region this afternoon through Wednesday morning, so please be prepared for potential outages. Here are helpful emergency preparedness resources: How to prepare for a power outage Carbon Monoxide Prevention Emergency Preparedness Make It Through Take Winter By Storm Winter Safety Power outages: If you are teleworking and experience a power outage that affects your ability to effectively work remotely, please contact your supervisor to discuss other options for completing work tasks. These may include taking leave or working from your regular King County worksite. If you… Read More
To allow for system maintenance, the PeopleSoft system will not be available the weekend of Nov. 16 through Nov. 17. During this planned outage, the Business Resource Center (BRC) will apply vendor updates and maintenance. This work will begin on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 a.m. and is scheduled to be completed by 6:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 18. The system will not be available for access by any County staff during this outage window. There will be a communication sent out to all County staff when the system becomes available. We… Read More
Did you know that you can donate your accrued vacation leave to nonprofits? Most King County employees have the unique opportunity to donate accrued vacation and/or eligible comp time to three nonprofits of your choice in the EGP. If you do not plan on taking some of your accrued vacation leave, or you have excess leave that cannot be carried into the next year, this is a great option. Employees may give a minimum of 4 hours, maximum of 40 hours, unless you are in a use it or lose it position,… Read More
Crossposted from the DAJD newsletter The DAJD Recruitment team has continued to power forward, fill vacancies, and break records. After finishing 2023 with a new record of adding 77 Corrections Officers and 31 new Juvenile Detention Officers in just one year, the team elected to push into 2024 with a goal of breaking the records again. By late October, the team has already hired 93 Corrections Officers and 28 Juvenile Detention Officers with two months remaining in 2024. The team has so far brought 143 new staff into DAJD. This includes backfilling… Read More
Balanced You Wellness Heroes highlights employees doing things to better their lives, the lives of their colleagues, and our community. Meet Wellness Hero Carmen Johnson, King County Retirement Navigator. In this video Carmen talks about how her role helps employees on the road to retirement, the importance of educating and planning for retirement, the million-dollar questions of when you should start planning for retirement (hint: it’s never too early), a variety of resources and classes offered for King County employees, and more. Check out the video of Carmen below!