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No traffic and the best commute around: New and improved Water Taxi terminal debuts as regional passenger ferry network grows
The King County Water Taxi began operating out of the new passenger ferry terminal at Pier 50 on Monday, Aug. 12, featuring a new covered facility, ADA improvements, and expanded space. Commuters, travelers, and tourists pass through the terminal on their way between downtown Seattle and West Seattle, Vashon, Bremerton, Kingston, and coming next year, Southworth.
“The King County Water Taxi represents the best of our region: an innovative mobility solution that gets people out of traffic and where they need to be, rain or shine, with an on-time record that is second to none,” said Executive Dow Constantine. “Our investments in the Pier 50 terminal make it possible to increase regional service even further, giving people new ways to get downtown without a car, on the most enviable commute in the nation.”
Summer learning: Enhancing programs through partnership
Kids watched in wonder last week as King County Executive Dow Constantine sprayed water on a model town, simulating a rainstorm. “There it goes!” one child exclaimed as water gathered and flowed through storm drains and into the imaginary Puget Sound. “That affects salmon,” explained Larry Reymann, a Volunteer Educator with the Environmental Science Center, “And who eats salmon?” A chorus of voices chimed in, “Bears! Whales! Us!” Read more.
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Employee shares the powerful experience of working in Juvenile Court
Michelle Mihail, a Juvenile Probation Counselor in King County Superior Court’s Renton unit, was recently featured in My Northwest magazine, discussing how important it is to never give up on kids who have lost their way.
My Northwest highlights the different services and resources the program offers, following Michelle for the day to see the different ways she works with young people to ensure they develop the skills and behavior needed to succeed.
“The kids are why I show up. You know, they’re … generally very talented, smart young kids who just have kind of lost their way,” she explained.
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Meet the apprentices of the Children and Family Justice Center Project
King County capital projects are helping fill the industry shortage for trades workers by partnering with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs that provide apprentices with career opportunities and hands-on training with journeymen, all while earning family wages.
View the video below to hear what apprentices on the Children and Family Justice Center Project have to say about their experience.
Join us for #CityHallSelfie Day on Aug. 15
Show your King County pride! If you’re at lunch or on break, meet us at the Administration Building on the Fifth Avenue side at noon on Thursday, Aug. 15. We’ll take a group photo and post it on the county’s social media feeds to celebrate #CityHallSelfie Day. (Just because we’re a county doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with this!)
If you work elsewhere around King County, hop in front of your building, snap a picture, and send it to socialmedia@kingcounty.gov and we’ll share it. You can also feel free to share our posts and use the hashtag #CityHallSelfie in your own posts. City Hall Selfie Day is sponsored by ELGL, Engaging Local Government Leaders.
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Now recruiting 2019 Ambassadors!
Build your resume AND make a difference? Yes, you can have it all.
Ambassadors are the most important element of our Employee Giving Program team. You will be the key to making sure that every King County employee has a quality opportunity to support a cause they care about through the program. Register Here
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Meet new people,
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Advocate for your favorite cause, and
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Build rock star skills.
Read more and learn about being an Ambassador in the video below.
New features coming to PeopleSoft, system unavailable this weekend
The Business Resource Center (BRC) continues to deliver new features, improvements and maintenance to PeopleSoft!
With this latest PeopleSoft release, King County employees will now be able to update their benefits and dependent information in Employee Self Service when experiencing one of the following life events: Marriage, Divorce, Birth, or Adoption. Learn more in the PeopleSoft Knowledge Center (network login required).
Employees will still have the option to complete and submit paper forms directly to the Benefits office, but for those that would like to go paperless and submit faster online you may do so from your desktop computer, laptop, or mobile device starting Aug. 19. Click here to watch a brief introductory video.
To implement these cool new features and allow for system maintenance, the PeopleSoft system will not be available the weekend of Aug. 16 through Aug. 18. This work will begin on Friday, Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to be completed by 6:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 19.
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.
Evaluation points to early successes among partners to advance equity
In 2018, Communities of Opportunity (COO) launched a participatory evaluation to assess existing conditions and early partner efforts toward creating racial, economic and health equity. Over 46 partners shared their perspectives through surveys, focus groups, interviews and a community workshop.
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Over 4,000 people increased skills through 81 capacity building events, job training and seminars.
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275 relationships between organizations were newly developed or strengthened due to COO support.
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264 community members held leadership positions within their communities and our region, including 85 youth
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New Implementation Dashboard to track progress toward Zero Youth Detention
This month, we launched the Zero Youth Detention Implementation Dashboard, where we’re tracking strategies, projects and actions King County and its partners are working on to get us closer to Zero Youth Detention. This Implementation Dashboard is a companion site to the Zero Youth Detention Data Dashboard we launched last year to track overall data about the juvenile legal system in King County. Read more.
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King County Drug Diversion Court: By the numbers
The King County Drug Diversion Court (KCDDC) Program began in August 1994 as the twelfth drug court in the country. Currently, there are drug courts in every state and 3,100 nationwide.
The mission of King County Drug Diversion Court (KCDDC) is to ensure community safety and empower participants to rebuild their lives by combining the resources of the criminal justice system, substance use treatment and other community service providers. Read more.
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One day only: Rerouting southbound 1st Ave buses to 4th Ave
As you may have read, on Thursday, August 15, southbound routes heading to West Seattle, Burien, and neighboring areas that normally go through Pioneer Square along First Avenue are being rerouted for one day only. This reroute is to evaluate alternate routing designed to save time for those routes, while still providing a bus stop in the Pioneer Square area. The data we collect will be compared against current routing and last week’s temporary reroute and used to determine options to improve pathways during the “Seattle Squeeze.” Read more.
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Employee discounts to Seattle Symphony
Save 15% on most of the 2019/2020 Seattle Symphony season with Promo Code VIOLIN20. Concerts include Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto to Schumann’s Piano Concert to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and world-renowned pianists including Lang Lang, Daniil Trifonov, Beatrice Rana, Chick Corea, and more. Get tickets here.
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Training Spotlight
Mindfulness and Emotional Resilience, Oct. 17: Emotional Resilience refers to a person’s capacity for meeting difficult emotional situations with greater equanimity and a person’s capacity for returning to a state of emotional balance more quickly. This 4-hour workshop introduces techniques specifically designed to enhance participants’ ability to be aware of and respond to difficult emotional situations with both mindfulness and compassion, a combination which cultivates emotional resilience. This course is sponsored by Balanced You. Register and learn more.
Pet of the Week: Gray
Bring some color into your life with Gray, our Pet of the Week!
This eight-year-old female shorthair came to us because her previous owners were moving. While her name is Gray, her personality color is “Bashful Blue,” meaning she is a gentle and loving cat who likes to take things slow. Gray likes to approach new friendships with caution, but once she warms up to you she is just a big, affectionate lovebug who loves to hang out with her favorite people. Read more.
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Featured Job: Finance Manager (Internal Only)
Salary: $112,081.42 - $142,069.61 Annually
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Department: DLS - Local Services
Closing: 8/21/2019 11:59 PM Pacific
Are you a senior-level public sector finance professional looking for your next opportunity? Join the Department of Local Services as our new Finance Manager and take your career to a new level! The Road Services Division is seeking a Finance Manager to oversee all budgeting, financial planning, accounting, internal control, financial management, internal and external financial reporting, and data stewardship for the division's Operating, Capital and Road Improvement District funds. In addition, the manager will oversee the division's payroll function.
KC Headlines
Interested in sharing a news story, or have a news tip? Click here to submit an item to Employee News. For questions or suggestions, please contact KCEmployees@kingcounty.gov.
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