SEATTLE — Seattle City Light CEO Jorge Carrasco admitted publicly he lied about asking for a big pay raise, but he was also grilled by City Council members during its energy committee meeting Wednesday.
The meeting opened with some scathing comments from the public.
"I think the lineman who put their life on the line out there on the high-voltage area ought to be paid a lot more than someone who sits in an office and dreams up schemes on how to circumvent the public," said one commenter.
Carrasco is one of the highest paid city employee, making $245,000 a year.
Carrasco sat quietly as person after person blasted his leadership and the proposed pay raise of up to $119,000.
The mayor was going to give Carrasco a raise, but later canceled it after Carrasco was caught in a public relations nightmare, starting with him saying he did not ask for a pay raise.
He later admitted he lied and did ask for a raise.
"My response was really to make sure it was clear that I was not trying to pressure the mayor or council to address the pay issue,” said Carrasco.
Carrasco was questioned by council members asking why City Light spent $17,500 of tax dollars on a public relations campaign to flood the Internet with favorable blog posts about City Light and Carrasco.
He said entering into that contract was a mistake meant to highlight the good his department has done and for potential employees.
Carrasco was also duped out of $120,000 in city scrap metal by two people in costume who pretended to run a charity.
He said he made a mistake in letting the thieves in.
After the meeting, KIRO 7's Maria Guererro asked Carrasco how he thought it went.
"I thought it was a very good meeting and it's a great way to invite the public to ask questions and address concerns regarding some of the recent incidents that have been reported. It was also a great opportunity to talk about the last ten and a half years and where we are now," he said.
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