Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to our employees, their families and the community 

We would like to take the time 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, and for supporting and serving the 2.1 million people who call this part of the world home.

You drive the way that we innovate, connect and excel in our service to our community and people across the region.

King County never stops serving, and we send a special thank you to the employees – bus operators, corrections officers, sheriff’s deputies, medics, and many others – who are serving our community over the Thanksgiving holiday. Thank you!

King County Superior Court celebrates forever families  

This Thanksgiving week, King County Superior Court wants to thank the nearly 500 families who stepped up across Washington State this year to adopt children. These children are international adoptions, step-family adoptions, but most are foster care adoptions.

November is National Adoption Month and on Friday, Nov. 16, Superior Court celebrated with 23 of those families including 17-year-old Delontea Sallee who spent seven years in the foster care system before his new mom, Amanda, stepped up to make sure Delontea has a family and someone who will help support him through college.

Check out Delontea’s story on Q13.

Nearly 1,800 children and teenagers need forever homes. If you are interested in adopting a child, please contact our partners at http://www.amara.org or http://www.olivecrest.org.

Pet of the Week: Maya

Crossposted from Tails from RASKC

Active, playful Maya is our Pet of the Week!

This young Rhodesian Ridgeback mix was brought in by her previous owners because she was a bit too rowdy. So, she’s one of our “Rambunctious Red” pets – very independent, full of energy, and loves to play!

Read more at Tails from RASKC

Featured Job: Administrative Specialist III – Construction Management 

Salary: $25.84 – $32.77 Hourly 

Location: Seattle, WA 

Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week 

Department: Department of Transportation – Transit Division 

Job Number: 2018JI08872 

Closing: 11/26/2018 11:59 PM Pacific 

The Design and Construction section is currently recruiting for a career service Administrative Specialist III (AS III) to provide a variety of technical and construction contract related clerical support services to the Transit Construction Management office.  This is an excellent career opportunity for an  administrative professional with experience in a construction management environment.

Primary job duties include the self-directed performance of essential construction office coordination and support tasks and functions requiring independent judgment and knowledge/experience of construction contract administration processes.  The person selected for this position must have the experience and knowledge to properly self-prioritize daily tasks and actions on contract and regulatory mandated time-sensitive functions.

This position requires a broad understanding of multiple unique workflows that are required in Construction Contract Administration, including the roles and responsibilities of various internal and external stakeholders including Project Control Engineers, Project Engineers, Engineers-of-Record, Project Managers, Contractors, sub-Contractors, internal clients, Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), etc.  Duties will include utilizing specialized databases, completing records management (both paper and electronic), logging and tracking of various documents, and requisitioning and maintaining a variety of schedules and tracking tools. 

Learn more about this position or all available positions.

Training Spotlight: Introduction to Career Development and Lean Basics

Introduction to Career Development, Dec. 10: In this workshop you will learn the key elements of career development, identify your individual interests and values as they relate to career options, explore similar job classifications, learn the importance of competencies when identifying career options, leverage tips for engaging in conversations with your leadership, and gain the knowledge of how to research and seize career opportunities. You will choose a partner and participate in various exercises together. Register and learn more. 

Lean Basics, Jan. 8: Have you heard about Lean before? Have you wondered if Lean could be applied on your job? Come and join us in the Lean Basics course where you will become familiar with the fundamental principles of Lean; such as Waste Identification, Visual Management, and Continuous Improvement. Students will engage the materials through instructor lead classroom discussions, and interactive hands-on learning. Register and learn more. 

Festival of Frights raises more than $3,000 for Annual Giving Drive 

More than 100 employees, including Executive Constantine and members of his Senior Leadership Team, attended the Executive Department’s Halloween-themed Festival of Frights on October 31, many in costumes, raising more than $3,000 for two charities, Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets and Project SeaWolf through this year’s Employee Giving Campaign. 

Employees participated in games, snacked on treats, and learned more about the two nonprofits, all while raising $2,178.25, which, with a donor match, brought the total donation to $3,178.25 which will be split between the two nonprofits. Kudos to Brooke Reyes who led the organization of the event and her team of volunteers! 

Watch this short video below (on SharePoint) that captures the fun of the event.

Janna Wilson talks employee engagement and health in PSBJ article 

Janna Wilson, Interim Manager of Employee Health and Well-Being, is featured in an article on employee engagement and health in the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ). The November 2 article examines the link between healthy employees and a healthy bottom line. 

“We can provide information and tools to help employees make thoughtful choices,” Janna says in the article. “Employers that send signals that they care about and invest in their workforce can attract and retain more engaged employees.” Read the full article at the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Health Hero on the spot: Shawna Johnson 

Crossposted from Balanced You 

Shawna Johnson is a positive force who works to make it easy for you to protect yourself, your family, and your co-workers. Shawna organizes our onsite flu shot events. 

Take a look in the video below! And still need to get your flu shot? Click here.

King County District Court Judge shares profound impact of county’s Regional Veterans Court 

The Seattle Times published an opinion piece from King County District Court Judge Ketu Shah on November 12. The article highlighted how in Regional Veterans Court, those who served in the Armed Forces can participate in the treatment court process with their fellow veterans, affirming that they are not alone in their struggle, and receive the opportunity to succeed.

“Honoring our veterans means ensuring they have stable housing, employment and educational opportunities. It means treating their invisible wounds of war just as earnestly as we treat their physical wounds,” he said. Read the full article here at The Seattle Times.

King County 2019-2020 budget approved by Council  

King County Executive Dow Constantine’s proposed 2019-20 budget was approved by County Councilmembers Tuesday, Nov. 13. 

“I thank members of the King County Council for their careful review of my proposed 2019-2020 budget, and for supporting our shared priorities. For an environment in crisis – I proposed and we are funding real solutions to restore and protect natural habitat. For the homeless – shelter and services that lead to a better life.  

“For the hundreds of thousands of commuters – expanding Metro and deploying innovations to make transit work even better. For those who are not sharing in our current prosperity – restructuring training and employment programs. As part of our award-winning continuous improvement efforts – reforming County government and delivering maximum General Fund and Metro reserves. All of this is in service to our commitment that every person in King County will have the opportunity to fulfill their potential, and contribute to the community.”

Read more in the official press release.