Employee News

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Karl Himes

Summer brings more than 40 farmers markets to King County

You’ve probably enjoyed great food and supported your local farmers by visiting the farmers market near your work place, by signing up for a Community Supported Agriculture CSA-at-work program, or by visiting a farmers market near your home. Did you know there are more than 40 farmers markets in King County between the months of May and November? More than 200 unique farms sell at markets in King County, and more than 60 of those farms are in the County.

Pike Place Market remains the longest-running year-round farmers market in the U.S.

Here are a few of the resources available to make the most of your ability to explore farm-fresh food and eat like a local in and around King County.

In ‘Celebrating DNRP’s 2017 highlights,’ the Department of Natural Resources and Parks shares ‘Local never tasted so good’ on their home page features carousel.

Local never tasted so good

The Farm Fresh Local program educated and inspired eaters across the region on how to access local food at farmers markets, farm stands, and CSAs in our community. The program, supported by a USDA grant, included a 2017 media campaign to promote farmers markets, creation of a CSA@Work program for King County employees, a Farm Fresh Local Healthy Eating Blog, and a new story map that offers a virtual tour of farm- fresh food in King County.

This brings you to Water and Land Services’ ‘Taste variety at your Farmers Market’ page (also in Spanish here), which – in addition to data and maps – includes the ‘Explore farm-fresh food’ link to the story map mentioned above.

This is a fantastic ArcGIS story map that dives into the history of Farmers Markets in our area, highlights a number of favorite markets, and provides mapped links to markets not only in King County, but throughout the Puget Sound area. The mapped links connect you to specific markets and their days and hours of operation.

Pike Place Market, which opened in 1907, remains the longest-running year-round farmers market in the United States. Farmers and consumers advocated for the market so they could transact with each other directly. In addition to Pike Place, the University District, Ballard, West Seattle and Broadway Farmers Markets are open year-round and are centered in Seattle.

university-district-seattle-farmers-market-ftr

The University District Farmers Market; featured as one of The Top 25 Farmers’ Markets Across America by PARADE Magazine. Photo by Redstone Photography.

In addition to our own ArcGIS Story Map, local and regional resources are available to explorers ready to visit the markets throughout the region.

Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets is a neighborhood alliance committed to supporting and strengthening Washington’s small family farm businesses by creating and operating vibrant, successful neighborhood farmers markets. They are a 501c3 nonprofit that manages seven food-focused farmers markets in Seattle. They are online, have a Ripe and Ready Blog, and are social on Twitter and more; providing great information about the markets in Seattle proper.

Outside of Seattle and King County? The Tilth Alliance has a site that links to a list of regional farmers markets. You can search markets and information about them by location. They also have an app for that!

Eat well and enjoy the season by visiting the farmers markets near you!

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Jason Argo

Executive visits employees who are empowering strong communities through partnerships

King County Executive Dow Constantine and Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams recently visited King County employees and partners from the Communities of Opportunity program to learn more about their work to create greater racial, economic, and health equity that enables all people in King County to thrive and prosper.

“Our goals for Communities of Opportunity line up with the intersection of wanting to see that all people are thriving economically, that all people are healthy, that they have quality, affordable housing, and that they are connected to the community,” Andréa Akita, Director of Communities of Opportunity, said during the visit.

Communities of Opportunity is a partnership between King County and Seattle Foundation to create safe and healthy communities throughout the region by working with community leaders and organizations to design effective strategies. It is funded jointly through Seattle Foundation and Best Starts for Kids, a voter-approved initiative led by Executive Constantine to promote healthier, more resilient children, youth, families, and communities in King County.

Communities of Opportunity Staff from Public Health Seattle & King County and Department of Community and Human Services, as well as representatives from the Seattle Foundation, Ballmer Group and HomeSight, gave Executive Constantine and Abrams an overview of their work and some detailed examples of projects that are making a real difference in the community.

For Kalayaan Domingo, a Project Manager for COO, the work is more than conceptual or theoretical as she has strong connections to the communities where COO is focusing its partnerships.

“I’m from this area, I grew up in south Beacon Hill, I went to the Northwest School on Capitol Hill, my parents grew up here, so this work is not theoretical for me,” Domingo told Executive Constantine. “The ability for my family to stay in this county living close to each other is something that we feel we fight for every day. When I’m out in the community these are not conceptual partners, these are people who raised me in this community, they’re people who I’ve had a long-term relationship with, and when I go out to the grocery store I have to go out there and see them every day, and if this doesn’t work I can’t go back out and show my face. So when we ask our community, and we ask ourselves to be accountable to the community, we really have to mean it and we really have to show it.”

Both Executive Constantine and Abrams appreciated the opportunity to meet with the COO employees and some of their partners to hear first-hand about their work, challenges, and successes.

“These employees are partnering with local communities creating innovative, tailored solutions to help everyone in King County grow, thrive, and prosper,” Executive Constantine said. “Their passion and commitment to building fairer, stronger communities is inspiring. I appreciate the time and care our employees taking to share their insights with me, and I thank them for the work they do every day for the people.”

Learn more about Communities of Opportunity at www.COOpartnerships.org.

Posted on July 17, 2018 by William Blees

King County releases Annual Financial Reports

The 2017 King County CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) and the PAFR (Popular Annual Financial Report) are now available online.

The CAFR consists of management’s representations concerning the finances of King County. The financial statements within the report have been audited by the Washington State Auditor’s Office and were prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles that are prescribed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for all state and local governments in the United States of America.

The PAFR provides an overview of King County’s financial condition with a brief analysis of where revenues come from and how the monies including tax dollars are spent. It seeks to inform readers about King County’s basic financial structure with emphasis on the results of its operations during the 2017 fiscal year. The PAFR is not audited, but the report is based on the audited CAFR.

Click on the above corresponding acronym link to view the PDF file. Hardcopies will be available towards the end of July. If you need a printed copy of either report, send a request to July.Maha@KingCounty.gov . For questions about the report, please contact Manny Cristobal at Manny.Cristobal@KingCounty.gov.

Posted on July 17, 2018 by kingcountyemployees

KCIT deploying new tool this month to protect data and systems

KCIT will deploy a new security tool later this month that will help protect the entire King County network from cybersecurity attacks. The new tool will operate behind the scenes, helping to protect all of our data and systems from both external and internal cyber threats.

This deployment should affect neither your computer nor your day-to-day business operations. If you are blocked from a work-approved website or application, either submit a Help Desk Ticket to HelpTicket@KingCounty.gov or escalate the issue through your technical support group.

Posted on July 17, 2018 by kingcountyemployees

BRC PeopleSoft improvements

King County’s PeopleSoft team is at the forefront of adopting new Oracle PeopleSoft features and enhancements. Every quarter, the Business Resource Center continues to deliver new features, improvements and bug fixes to PeopleSoft!

This month’s July 23 release offers a lot of improvements, including:

Simplified, easy-to-remember URLs (update your bookmarks or favorites)

kingcounty.gov (Login from Work – internal King County network)
kingcounty.gov (Login from Home – employee self-service)

Classic Plus provides a better user experience by delivering pages that look and ‘feel’ more like mobile pages.

ElasticSearch is a new-and-improved search engine using the hcm.kingcounty.gov URL, and provides quicker search and navigation.

As with all PeopleTools upgrades, users will need to clear their internet browser cache to prevent freezing, incorrect page rendering and slow response times. First, confirm that you’re using a valid web browser, and then follow these instructions to delete temporary internet files.

Posted on July 16, 2018 by kingcountyemployees

Metro tops 3,000 bus drivers for first time ever

Crossposted from Metro Matters

This new class of bus drivers is one for the Metro record books.

Among them is Nathaniel Housman (pictured front and center), who joins his father, Tom, and his brother, Jonathan, in driving for Metro. When Nathaniel and his class graduated from their training program on June 22, Metro topped 3,000 drivers for the first time in our history.

Just a year ago, Metro was close to 2,850 drivers. Now we have more drivers than ever before, and we’ll continue growing and growing to meet this region’s hunger for more transit service.

Metro continues to recruit and train new drivers, acquire new buses, and plan for new base capacity so that we can keep the buses rolling for everyone who needs one.

We welcome Nathaniel and his classmates. But we’re looking for more qualified people — a lot of them. If you are interested, visit DriveForMetro to take a self-quiz to learn what it takes to be a driver, and see the wages and benefits drivers receive at King County. Apply now!

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Karl Himes

Kudos! to Parks and Metro for Trailhead Direct recognitions in Seattle Magazine

Seattle Magazine ran a great Northwest Travel and Outdoors feature story covering Parks’ and Metro’s Trailhead Direct program. With the support of sponsors REI Co-op and Clif Bar, and many partners throughout the region, Trailhead Direct eases vehicle congestion, reduces safety hazards and expands access to hiking destinations along I-90. Seattle Magazine’s piece provides a great overview, a little bit of history, a few impressive KPIs, and news that the program is gaining the attention of other municipalities.

Kudos, Parks and Metro!

Posted on July 16, 2018 by kingcountyemployees

Discover personal savings strategies to create the retirement you want

You and your spouse or significant other are invited to learn more about the King County Deferred Compensation Plan at education sessions offered throughout the year.

In-person sessions are coming up July 17-19. Go online for details and registration. For the complete education schedule and list of webinars, go to the Deferred Compensation web site.

If you have any questions, email KCDeferredComp@KingCounty.gov.

Posted on July 15, 2018 by kingcountyemployees

School’s out and summer is in session, but let’s keep recycling!

Crossposted from GO, Green Team!

Though summer is upon us and school is out, remember to keep up the good habits of being environmental stewards you’ve practiced during the school year. During the summer, you can focus your recycling, composting, and reducing at home.

Students participating in waste sorting training.

Donate any old clothing, including single socks and shoes that have lost their mates. Or use old clothes as cleaning rags. For more information, check out our Threadcycle
In need of summer clothes or swim wear? Give clothes a second life, go to your local Goodwill and see what gems you can find.
Remind your family members to double-check the recycling bin for contamination. Give them a pop quiz to see if they know what belongs where. Here is a quick guide to recycling at home. Post it on your refrigerator, or on your garbage, recycling, and compost bins.
See if your local schools are holding any green events this summer. Volunteer at a park or restoration site. Or take a tour of King County’s Brightwater Center.
Want to do some arts and crafts? Use what you already have at home. Get creative and make a collage with old newspaper, a picture frame with Popsicle sticks, or create sensory jars with small objects you find around the house. Use fallen leaves and twigs from local trees to decorate a nature journal.
Add a book about the environment to your summer reading list. Check out last year’s post on summer reading to get you started. This list includes book suggestions for early, middle-grade, and high school readers.

Coffee filter student art.

During the summer, do at home the good habits you’ve established at school – reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting. These habits give items a second life, protect the environment from the effects of climate change, and prevent the overuse of natural resources.

Want recycling information in Spanish? Take a look at Recicla más. ¡Es facilísimo! on the King County Solid Waste Division website and on Facebook.

The Go, Green Team Blog! wishes you a safe and fun summer.