Month: August 2022

When we talk about diversifying our workforce, promoting equity, and including all voices in our work (DEI), people might assume it is just about increasing the numbers of people of color, or the percentage of women in leadership positions, or respectfully reflecting a person’s gender.  Those are important elements of our work to strengthen our team and better serve our community. However, there’s another aspect to diversity you may not always associate with our DEI work – our employees with prior military service. With Joint Base Lewis-McChord in our backyard, and naval bases throughout Puget Sound, we also strive to benefit from the ready supply of skilled veterans.  These veterans are leaders who have worked in teams to accomplish their mission and are committed to public service. Additionally, they frequently…

All, I found a cryptic note in Bruce’s office. I think he has been hiding clues in his blog posts this whole time. Can you help me crack this code before he returns? Here’s what I’ve figured out so far: This goes all the way back to the beginning. Start by opening Bruce’s first blog post from January 13, 2017. Apply Clue #1 to that blog post to find a year, month, and date of another blog post. I repeat: you are looking for a year, a month, and a date. You then navigate to the next post by typing in this web address: https://blog.piercecountywa.gov/executive/yyyy/mm/dd with the correct year, month, and date substituted in. For example, if the clue leads you to January 13, 2017, you will enter https://blog.piercecountywa.gov/executive/2017/01/13 into…

Former New York mayor Ed Koch was famous for his impromptu walking tours of the city. He asked everyone he came across the same question: “How am I doin’?” Our version of “How am I doin’?” is an Internal Services Survey, an opportunity for employees to evaluate the performance of departments we all rely on: Communications; Facilities; Finance; and Human Resources. Of about 3100 employees, 566 responded -- about 18%. Complete results will be available in the next week or so. Most of the ratings are positive or very positive, but the survey raises questions similar to what I hear at meetings and in conversations. They deserve answers. Predictably, they’re all related to wanting faster service. FACILITIES. Despite high ratings for the quality of their work, I’m occasionally asked about…

By the end of this summer, I will have attended 5 weddings. But the one I’m attending this weekend has a twist – I’m the officiant! My niece and her fiancé asked me to officiate at their outdoor wedding on Saturday.  It will be the fourth wedding I’ve conducted.  I’ve also served at four funerals, but that’s another story (and not a movie!) The first wedding I did was for my sister 30 years ago. She’s still married so I think I did a pretty good job! The other weddings were also for family members so I’m kind of a “niche” service provider. Serving at a wedding is sort of like speaking at a graduation – which I’ve also done. You have a spotlight, but no one really comes to…