Your Big Backyard 5K run and walk – fitness and more!
Since 2010, the Big Backyard 5K presented by Kaiser Permanente has promoted fitness and community involvement, and has raised more than $300,000 for King County Parks – your big backyard. Supporting King County Parks through the BBY5K helps keep our parks, trails and open spaces operating for all to enjoy, and you’ll have a lot of fun doing it! This family-friendly event is Sunday, June 3 at Marymoor Park.
Get $20 off your registration fee using discount Code KPThrive
The BBY5K is proud to have Kaiser Permanente* as its presenting sponsor. Kaiser Permanente wants to help King County employees thrive and, if you are one of the first 250 people to enter Discount Code KPThrive when you sign up for the event, you’ll get $20 off your registration fees (discount applies to individual registrants only).
For more on thriving, read our sponsor’s tips about 11 simple ways to thrive!
*Kaiser Permanente refers to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington
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Third payday of the month, May 31
Most King County employees get paid on a biweekly basis. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, there are actually 26 pay periods. So, two months each year you will receive three paychecks—this year, it will happen on May 31 and Nov. 29.
The net dollar amount of these two paychecks may be larger because not all deductions are taken out. For example, Deferred Compensation, supplemental insurance premiums, Benefit Access Fees, and Employee Giving donations are not deducted from these “third” paychecks.
For more information about your paycheck, go to Payroll or speak with your department Payroll representative or timekeeper.
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Chief Operating Officer tours treatment plant, meets with employees
Casey Sixkiller, Chief Operating Officer for King County Executive Dow Constantine, has been out meeting employees and leaders at worksites across the county since joining Executive Constantine’s Senior Leadership Team in February to learn more about all of the County’s lines of business, and he recently met with employees at the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Magnolia.
West Point treats sewage and stormwater from Seattle and its northern suburbs – about 100 million gallons a day, and up to 440 million gallons during heavy rains – and serves approximately 700,000 customers.
“I’m just so impressed by the level of dedication and professionalism that our employees are bringing to the work that they do,” Sixkiller said. “To see this government in action is very exciting. It reminds me why I decided to make this move across the country to be part of public service.”
Watch the short video to learn more about West Point and Casey’s visit.
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Join us at a Road to Retirement class
Are you retiring this month? Next month? If you’re planning to leave King County employment by retiring in the near future, join your Retirement Team for Road to Retirement Class (formerly known as Exit Class). We’ll cover important information you need—so you’re ready to walk out the door.
Road to Retirement class is held on the last Tuesday of each month from 1 – 3 p.m., and registration is required, as space is limited. The next class is Tuesday, May 29, 1 – 3 p.m.
Before attending, go to Leaving Employment and read the Exit Guide to get some of your questions answered ahead of time.
Please note: attendance at this class is strictly voluntary, on your own time, and non-work related.
Register for Road to Retirement Class. For more information, contact KC Orientations.
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Employee engagement, health and well-being at DNRP
When the Department of Natural Resources and Parks’s Wastewater Comprehensive Planning and GIS group sat down to review their engagement survey results, they kept coming back to one thing – improving their well-being. To support each other in this engagement goal, they posted a list of 25 things they can do together, or alone, and place a check next to the item when they’ve done it so the team can encourage each other and hold each other accountable.
John Conway, Water Quality Planner and Project Manager
“There are so many things I love about this engagement action plan,” said Employee Health and Well-Being Manager Janna Wilson. “We know from research that when people share their goals and progress with each other, they are more likely to achieve those goals. And, studies have shown that your own behavior can inspire changes in the health habits of those around you. It’s so powerful that this group is finding a way to build a positive team dynamic through their shared interest in well-being. This is a great marriage of employee engagement and health and well-being, two things that are important to the county’s culture.”
This group of planners well understands the impact of managing risk upstream. They are in charge of looking into the future to ensure that our wastewater system and infrastructure can accommodate the complex and interdependent demands placed on it by population growth, climate change and aging systems. And now they’ve turned this same talent to personal well-being, where the behaviors we engage in daily can have a huge impact on our future health.
“We wanted help managing our own health,” said John Conway, Water Quality Planner and Project Manager. “We wanted to have fun reducing stress. We wanted to build bonds with other staff, promote happiness, improve our diet and help our mental and physical health.”
The group chose well-being from a list of three possible items. First, they met as a staff and reviewed the survey results together and talked about which questions they wanted to focus on. At the end of the discussion they had 11 on the wall and each person got 3 dots to identify their top choices to focus on. Three rose to the top. The team felt the first was not actionable. The others focused on applying equity and social justice skills and health and well-being. To tackle equity and social justice, the team joined in department wide efforts to implement the ESJ strategic plan. To get at well-being, they brainstormed a list of 25 ideas team members could do together or alone. Things on the list include playing ping pong in Occidental Square over lunch, sharing a recipe, and giving someone a compliment.
“We’re a group of planners so we think outside of the box,” said Susan Kaufman-Una, Manager, Comprehensive Planning, Inspection, Modeling, Mapping and Monitoring. “Sometimes we can’t even find the box!”
The list is posted on a “Health and Wellness Tracker” in the work group, where members of the group can anonymously mark when they have completed one of the healthy activities. The most popular things on the list? Walking, exercising and drinking 8 glasses of water.
The most unusual? Coloring, which is attracting participants from workgroups elsewhere on their floor who contribute their own creations to the expanding gallery.
The team coloring area
A completed well-being project
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Executive Constantine visits KCIT to learn from and thank employees
King County has recently been experiencing a wave of phishing attacks on its data and information systems, so King County Executive Dow Constantine visited the County employees who are working to protect our data to learn more about the attacks and thank them for their efforts.
Executive Constantine met with King County Information Technology Operations and Security, Risk, and Compliance staff in the Chinook Building to learn more about how KCIT handles cybersecurity before, during, and after an incident and get an update on KCIT’s security strategy and vision to be better positioned to protect the County from emerging threats.
Executive Constantine visits with KCIT employee Steve Coffing
“The threat from cybercriminals is constant, and KCIT is remaining vigilant to protect our data, technology platforms, and reputation so we can continue to serve the diverse needs of our customers,” Executive Constantine said. “I am thankful for the dedication and sophistication of KCIT employees and their 24/7 efforts to safeguard our data and IT capabilities.”
KCIT has seen a big increase in phishing and spam emails sent to King County employees in recent months. Phishing is an attempt to obtain information from you which gives outsiders access to King County systems.
KCIT’s Security, Risk and Compliance team has completely transformed itself into a frameworks-based unit that allows a more nimble, rapid response to threats while at the same time focusing resources on areas that will deliver the most reduction of risk going forward. New capabilities were brought online within days of the most recent phishing attacks, strengthening KCIT’s ability to protect our employees and assets.
Executive Constantine and CIO Tanya Hannah spend time with KCIT employees
Executive Constantine also met with Customer Support Services staff – who are on the front line responding to customer inquiries and issues and providing IT support – and Network Services employees, who help employees connect to email, SharePoint, Skype for Business, the Internet and other applications.
“Listening in to a customer support call I was struck by the care and knowledge that employees put into making sure their customers quickly get the solutions and answers they need to get back to their work.”
If you have IT concerns or questions, please contact the KCIT Service Center at 206-263-HELP (4357) or log a ticket at helpticket@kingcounty.gov.
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Tech Tip: Username format for new employees
King County changed the username format for new employees in March 2017 to a single, universal sign on. The new format is simpler to remember, easier to automate for new account creation, and it increases the county’s ability to protect against phishing, scams and other cyber threats.
What is the new username?
For PCs or email, it is the first letter of first name plus the last name. For example, Juan Hernandez would be JHernandez to sign into a PC, laptop, all work stations, and – eventually – PeopleSoft. Juan’s email address would be JHernandez@KingCounty.gov. Not Hernandezj, HernanJ, or any other combination. Simply JHernandez.
What if multiple employees share the same name?
The second employee will use the first and second letter of the first name plus the last name, and the third employee will use the first three letters of the first name, and so on; JHernandez becomes JuHernandez becomes JuaHernandez.
This only affects new employees. Current employees will continue to use the existing naming conventions for the foreseeable future.
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Expanding mental health services in King County middle schools
Crossposted from Best Starts for Kids
From coping with stress and social pressure to the appearance of mental health needs, many middle schoolers benefit from mental health support as they find their way through adolescence.
We’re thrilled to announce that beginning this fall, middle school students in over 40 King County schools will have more access to mental health screening and services at their school. Best Starts for Kids and the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency levy will combine funds to invest $12.6 million over three years to expand Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Services (SBIRT), a school-based tool to promote mental health and prevent substance use for middle school students. The program will reach as many as 35,000 students each school year.
To learn more about brain development in middle school and the importance of early mental health screening and support, we sat down with a Maggie Milligan, a Prevention Intervention Specialist at the Center for Human Services, and Dr. Meg Cary, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Department of Community and Human Services. Check out this video to hear from these experts and learn more about SBIRT.
Read the rest of the story on the Best Starts for Kids Blog.
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Voter Education Fund kickoff was a success!
Crossposted from Election Connection
It was a long day of training and information but the recipients of our Voters Education Fund program were happy to participate!
Thank you to every organization who came to our kickoff today and who is doing great things to help expand voter education and outreach to underserved communities throughout King County!
The Voter Education Fund is a government, philanthropic and community partnership led by King County Elections and Seattle Foundation to remove barriers to voting in underserved and underrepresented communities. Through this partnership, 33 organizations are receiving grants totaling more than $460,000 to increase voter engagement in underserved communities.
Big shoutout to our partner the Seattle Foundation and King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski for leading the group and speaking about the importance of this program!
Read the full article for more information on the grantees, to read the press release, and more!
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Kudos! to Judges Helen Halpert and Veronica Alicea-Galván
Judge Helen Halpert
Judge Veronica Alicea-Galván
King County Superior Court Judges Helen Halpert and Veronica Alicea-Galván will be honored at the 2018 Judicial Appreciation and Honors Luncheon sponsored by the King County Chapter of the Washington Women Lawyers. Judge Halpert will be receiving the Judge of the Year Award, and Judge Alicea-Galván will be receiving the Vanguard Award. The luncheon will be held Wednesday, June 27 at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
Employee News 