Summary

Patti Cole-Tindall, director of the King County Office of Labor Relations for the past six years, has accepted a top-level management position with the King County Sheriff, County Executive Dow Constantine and Sheriff John Urquhart announced.

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Patti Cole-Tindall, director of the King County Office of Labor Relations for the past six years, has accepted a top-level management position with the King County Sheriff, County Executive Dow Constantine and Sheriff John Urquhart announced.

“Patti has been an integral part of our work to build partnerships with employees, and this is a great opportunity for her to move into a leadership role in an area where she has a great deal of experience,” said Executive Constantine. “I wish her all the best in her new position."

“Patti comes to the Sheriff’s Office eminently qualified to take on the challenges of the Technical Services Division,” said Sheriff Urquhart. “She will be a great asset and we are very fortunate to have her on board."

As Chief of the Sheriff’s Technical Services Division, Cole-Tindall will oversee the 911 Communications Center, regional fingerprinting program, finance and payroll, information technology, and a host of other duties.

Cole-Tindall has served as an internal affairs investigator for the County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, and an assistant director of that department’s Community Corrections Division. At the state Employment Security Department, she was responsible for the regional investigative program that detected fraud and theft of unemployment benefits. She was also a special agent for the Washington State Gambling Commission, and completed the Basic Law Enforcement Academy in 1992.

More recently, she served as a key advisor to the King County Executive and County Council on strategic planning, labor policy development and employment law as the Director of Labor Relations. She concurrently served as the interim director of the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO), working with staff, the Sheriff's Office, and the public to improve services and promote awareness of the role of civilian oversight in King County.

Cole-Tindall submitted her resignation from OLEO to the chair of the King County Council before accepting the new position, which she will begin later this month. The Executive and Council are working to identify an interim OLEO director while the search for a permanent director recommences in November.

The Executive named Labor Relations Manager Gerry Topping to serve as interim Labor Relations Director while a search is conducted for a permanent director. Topping has substantial experience in human resources management in a variety of industries, including the military. Most recently, he served for 19 years as Senior Director of Human Resources at Holland America Line’s Seattle headquarters, providing the full range of human resource management services, including labor relations, to the shore-side contingent of the company’s 17,000 employees.

The Executive also named Whitney Abrams to serve as his Chief of Employee Engagement and Support. She will lead the Executive’s initiative to continuously improve employee engagement and labor/management partnerships. Abrams previously served as Labor Engagement Manager in the Office of Labor Relations, and as a Senior Union Representative at the Professional and Technical Employees, Local 17, and co-chair of the King County Coalition of Unions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Frank Abe, Executive Office, 206-263-9609
Sheriff John Urquhart, 206-263-2555