Dec. 17, 2007

King County adds Elizabeth Ford as Labor Relations Manager

King County Executive Ron Sims today announced the addition of Elizabeth Ford to lead the Human Resources Division's Labor Relations Section. Her responsibilities will include overseeing labor relations strategy and contract negotiations for the County. Ms. Ford will take on this role effective January 29, 2008.

"Elizabeth Ford brings incredible experience to Labor Relations," stated Executive Ron Sims. "Bringing in someone of this caliber will serve our employees and the county as a whole very well. She brings the skills that will be needed to help strategically place the County to meet its needs into the future"

Ford has an impressive background in labor law, arbitration and mediation, including serving recently at the federal level as a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Mediator. Her experience with represented employees ranges from working hands on to address substantial contract disputes regarding public employment, to handling major contract arbitrations. She was a partner with the law firm Schwerin Campbell Barnard and has worked for the City of Seattle, the Public Employment Relations Commission of Washington, and the Washington State Marine Employees Commission.

"We are quite pleased to have Elizabeth Ford leading the County's Labor Relations Section," said King County Councilmember and Law, Justice and Human Services committee chair Kathy Lambert. "The mediation and contract negotiation process is a critical function of the Human Resources Division and we look forward to her leadership on labor issues."

Ford has also shared her expertise with the academic community as a visiting clinical professor at Seattle University School of Law, where she created and taught a first-time Mediation Clinic. Ford has an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and earned her J.D. at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.