The highest paid gets higher paid

Marissa Luck Jul 15, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>The highest paid gets higher paid</h1>
                <h2><p>City Light Chief Executive Officer Jorge Carrasco, the highest-paid city employee at $245,000, could get a raise of $120,000 under a new pay scale approved by a City Council committee Wednesday, according to The Seattle Times. The potential increase from $120 an hour to $175 an hour could</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissaluck7-gmail-com/">Marissa Luck</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>City Light Chief Executive Officer Jorge Carrasco, the highest-paid city employee at $245,000, could get a <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023769781_carrascoraisexml.html?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">raise of $120,000</a> under a new pay scale approved by a City Council committee Wednesday, <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023769781_carrascoraisexml.html?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">according to The Seattle Times</a>. The potential increase from $120 an hour to $175 an hour could be retroactively effective as of January 2014. <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/06/05/15-an-hour-why-not-100-an-hour-hey-for-some-city-employees-why-not-175-an-hour?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">City staffers defended</a> the pay raise, saying  that Carrasco is actually underpaid compared to his counterparts in similar positions. He has not threatened to quit, but has applied other places, according to Tim Burgess, chair of the governance committee.  Although Carrasco is credited with revitalizing City Light, there have been complaints that his hard-headed leaderhsip<a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-02-13/news/short-fuse-jorge-carrasco-s-polarizing-tenure-at-the-top-of-city-light/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org"> has obliterated employee morale</a>. Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant objected to the pay raise, saying private market forces should not dictate government actions. — J.W.</p>
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City Light Chief Executive Officer Jorge Carrasco, the highest-paid city employee at $245,000, could get a raise of $120,000 under a new pay scale approved by a City Council committee Wednesday, according to The Seattle Times. The potential increase from $120 an hour to $175 an hour could be retroactively effective as of January 2014. City staffers defended the pay raise, saying that Carrasco is actually underpaid compared to his counterparts in similar positions. He has not threatened to quit, but has applied other places, according to Tim Burgess, chair of the governance committee. Although Carrasco is credited with revitalizing City Light, there have been complaints that his hard-headed leaderhsip has obliterated employee morale. Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant objected to the pay raise, saying private market forces should not dictate government actions. — J.W.

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By Marissa Luck

Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &