Employee Town Hall features budget discussion

King County Executive Dow Constantine joined Dwight Dively, Director of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget, Patty Hayes, Interim Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County, and Harold Taniguchi, Director of the Department of Transportation, for a detailed discussion about the proposed 2015/2016 biennial budget, at the October 27 Employee Town Hall. The Town Hall was hosted by Customer Service Director Natasha Jones and featured live sign language interpretation by American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters as part of our efforts to improve the inclusiveness of the Employee Town Hall for all employees.

Watch a recording of the Employee Town Hall below.

The meeting was broadcast live over the King County network to employee desktops. Watching the Employee Town Hall is totally optional.

Host

Director of Customer Service Natasha Jones advances customer and employee satisfaction by improving the County’s delivery of customer service. She leads an inter-departmental team of Customer Service Officers, establishing performance measures and inspiring a culture of continuous improvement. Jones has served in a communications and media relations role for three executive administrations and two other local governments, where she has focused on public outreach and government accessibility. Before working in government, she was a television news assignment editor, producer, reporter, and anchor.

Panelists

Dow Constantine, King County Executive. Since his election as King County Executive in November 2009, Dow Constantine has been working to instill a culture of performance that changes the way King County does business and forging partnerships with residents, cities, employees, and other county leaders to craft real, sustainable reforms. Before his election as Executive, Dow served as a King County Council member for eight years, and has held elected office in Washington state for 15 years. A Seattle native, Dow graduated from West Seattle High School and the University of Washington. He earned University of Washington post-graduate degrees in law (1989) and urban planning (1992).

Dwight Dively, Director of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget, develops and oversees the County’s $9 billion biennial budget, leads implementation of the King County Strategic Plan, and uses performance measures to improve County services. Dwight was previously Director of Finance for the City of Seattle since May 1994, and has also worked for the Washington High Technology Coordinating Board, the Battelle Seattle Research Center, and as a private consultant. Dwight is an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs, and holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a Ph.C. in civil engineering from the University of Washington.

Patty Hayes, Interim Director of Public Health — Seattle & King County, was appinted Interim Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County, in August 2014. Prior to this, Patty served as the Director of the department’s largest division, Community Health Services. Patty has over 25 years of experience in public health, policy development, and advocacy. Prior to this, Patty was the Executive Director of WithinReach, a statewide non-profit that connects families to food and health resources and previously worked for the Washington State Department of Health in various positions including Assistant Secretary of Health for Community & Family Health as well as the Director of Legislative, Policy and Constituent Relations. In 2014, Patty received the Heroine of Health Care award from the Center of Women and Democracy. Patty has her nursing and master degrees from the University of Washington School of Nursing and was inducted into the Washington Nursing Hall of Fame in 2002.

 

Harold Taniguchi, Director of the King County Department of Transportation, oversees its five divisions (transit, road services, airport, marine, and vehicle fleet administration). Taniguchi has served King County since 1983 in various positions, including deputy director of the Department of Transportation and manager of its Road Services division. Under the leadership of Mr. Taniguchi and the former and current King County executives, the Department of Transportation has maintained excellent fiscal management while taking groundbreaking approaches to providing efficient and productive transportation services that help communities thrive. Accomplishments include developing innovative transit services such as RapidRide, becoming the first agency in the nation to invest in articulated hybrid diesel-electric buses, and developing Intelligent Transportation Systems for county roadways.

Archive

The second Employee Town Hall held on October 15, 2013, addressed emergency preparedness and employee development and support. You can read more about this event, view a video of the event, and read about the panelists by going to this archive.

Lean Panel

Lean thinking and Lean tools enable us to create more public value with the resources we have.  By listening to our employees, eliminating waste, and constantly experimenting to find better ways to work, we can deliver better results for the people we serve.  We can also free up resources for other uses.  That’s better value. That restores the public’s confidence in their government.  That makes democracy work.

What's new in the Gemba? - Jennifer Lindwall and Melody Bennett seized an opportunity to use Lean thinking on an everyday project: updating a driver’s manual. You don’t have to conduct a 5-day kaizen event to take advantage of Lean. More 

Lean Lesson - In Lean, we utilize visual systems to give people information, and visual management to make good decisions. More

Recommended Reading - Big Company Disease is a one-hour webinar presented by Pascal Dennis. This webinar complements "The Remedy,” the subject of November’s book club meeting. You do not need to read “The Remedy” to watch the webinar and participate in the December book club meeting. Please watch the webinar and be prepared to discuss.  BookClub

New Technology

Are You a Mobile User? - If you like to work untethered, but connected then you might choose our Tablet offering for your primary workstation. You can stay connected with wireless Internet and wireless access to the internal network. Your primary apps will be cloud based, meaning no large applications on your machine are necessary. You might be a minimalist that doesn’t want to be weighed down. Instead you will use browser-based tools like OWA, PeopleSoft, Outlook Anywhere, and Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint. We welcome you, mobile user – we have the tools to help you succeed, on the go.

Office Professional - Nobody messes with the office pro. You are a go-to employee, you drive the pulse in your office - and you know how to get stuff done! You need capacity for all those big projects you work on, and your workstation would probably be the Performance Pro. You have the latest version of all the software, and love your Lync client for sharing your desktop, transferring files, and creating shortcuts to getting the information you need. You use a smart board at every meeting, and use OneNote for any collaborative note-taking needs. And you are a champion of SharePoint. Putting your files online means you can access them from anywhere, at any time. Because your creative process knows no limits, we applaud you – office pro.

Future User - You want to use your own device? We don’t mind if you BYOD, and understand that efficiency coupled with performance is your MO. We’re glad that you are using the solar charger and we know you take pride in never plugging anything into the wall. File Shares are something you’ve never heard of, as everything is shared through SharePoint in your world. All apps run from the browser, most everyone is mobile, we’ve embraced the Internet of Everything. And yes, you look good in those new glasses.