Man with city's highest paying job, Seattle City Light CEO Larry Weis, resigns

Announced nearly as an aside during a Monday morning news conference that focused on the resignation of Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she also accepted the resignation of Seattle City Light CEO and General Manager Larry Weis.

Weis secured the city’s highest-paying job with a salary of $340,000 when his hiring was approved by the Seattle City Council in March 2016.

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The announcement came after Durkan spoke about which public safety officials will serve in her administration.

Durkan appointed City Light Chief Compliance Officer Jim Baggs as the interim head to Seattle City Light as a national search is conducted to identify her permanent hire.

When questioned during the news conference, Durkan said while she was looking at what changes needed to be made in the city, it was clear that City Light was somewhere that she needed to make a change.

“I talked to the director in terms of what my expectations were and we had a mutual decision that he would resign. We've had challenges at City Light.  We will be looking to overcome some of those with everything from billing to the workplace environment. I don't want to comment on those specifics too soon,” said Durkan.

The mayor was questioned as to whether the new CEO would have a salary in the $340,000 range, Durkan said she was not going to comment, only that performance needed to be on the same level with pay.

“We have one of the largest utilities anywhere in the country, and if it were a private enterprise it would have a much different structure than it has here in the city. So, I'm not going to comment on what the range of compensation is, but I can tell you that if we pay in a certain range, we expect a certain performance,” said Durkan.

Cox Media Group