Comments

1
like most CEO salaries of a large corporation, their salary is "out of line" (for which we'll read: "at a large ratio in comparison") with the rest of that corporation's employees. this is well understood and sensibly lamented. so, is that the "Wrong Message"? that seattle city light is perfectly "in line" with standard national practices for CEO remuneration? what is this wrong message? how does Carrasco's salary compare with a comparable position? if you convince Carrasco to walk, (and maybe that's not the worst scenario), it should be noted that seattle city light has had some really bad CEOs prior to Carrasco; so what is the probability of getting another really bad one if the "out of line" pay isn't what's currently being handed out to such positions?

next up in "out of line" news: how much does the UW football coach get paid relative to his employees?
3
The only reasonable wage for a CEO is a max of 10-20 times what the lowest employee or full time equivalent
Contractor makes.

Dig deeper ..,
4
@2, I agree. If customers are paying for this raise, feel free to send out a proxy for us to vote on this. I don't see any stellar performance. This appears to be a favor with some after-the-fact rationalization, rather than a real process scrutinizing performance. I'm not happy with the Mayor's performance on this.
5
Since Carrasco is the absolute ONLY person on this planet that could do that job, seems like a good call to pay what it takes to keep him. I mean, absolutely NONE of his deputies or subordinates could do it, so might as well...
6
@3 "The only reasonable wage for a CEO is a max of 10-20 times what the lowest employee or full time equivalent
Contractor makes."

says who?

7
Shit, that "raise" comprises more --much more-- than my entire yearly income. Good christ!
8
It should also have been overtly pointed out that Licata confirmed Carrasco at his current salary. so only now it's "out of line", i guess.

In anycase, it now falls to the Mayor; who'll make some sort of optical sop to delaying the raise, and will see how thin-skinned Carrasco is (which is fairly)
9
Our dear theophrastus has pretty much nailed it. Despite it being a department of city government, City Light is a business. A "real" business. It's a balancing authority, which means it plays a crucial part in making sure the entire Pacific Northwest has a reliable source of power. It's not 1970 anymore, and the position of CEO of City Light is not something the mayor can hand off to some ex fireman or friend of his mother. If you want qualified people, you have to be able to pay competitive wages.

As far as the employee survey is concerned, City Light had a whole generation of inept, entitled employees, many of whom had their jobs solely because their parents worked there (a legacy, in part, of crony Mayoral appointments in the Superintendent's office). They resented any change whatsoever, because it meant they might have to learn something new. Thankfully, most of them have retired, and are now a burden on the city pension system. A new employee survey might have very different results.
10
50% or whatever the fuck in one year is too much. The 1%er jobs of the private sector may be rising like that but public service need not chase that paradigm. I am unwilling to believe there is no one capable of completing this job who would accept $240k/yr or less
11
Hey, you don't replace Russell Wilson with Colin Kaepernick any more than you'd replace Joe Montana with Dan Marino. Carraso must be paid what he's worth, or else Seattle City Light falls from yearly championship contention to mere playoff-caliber power generation.
12
Upchuck dear, the new pay range for the SCL CEO brings the position in line with that of the head of the Snohomish County PUD and Tacoma Public Utilities. It comes nowhere close to the pay of the CEO of PSE (750k base plus a few millions year in bonuses), which is modest compared to behemoths like Duke Energy.

The question of CEO pay is a valid one, but this is hardly the hill to stake your claim on. If Miss Minard had any other mode other than that of a grumpy provincial scold with a Billie Newman complex she might realize that, and report accordingly.
13
@2, where's the evidence that Carrasco is worth more than $15/hour?

The point should not be that this raise is not fair for the employees of City Light, but that it's not fair to the USERS of City Light's electricity. We're the ones paying, not getting paid.
14
A socialized public utility is not a business. It should not be run like one.
15
What Ryan, you would rather it was run like congress or maybe Medicare? Your rates would be 10 times what they are running it as a business.

Please wait...

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