PORT ANGELES — A salary increase has boosted Clallam Public Utility District General Manager Doug Nass’ compensation to $15,916 a month, or $190,992 a year.
“The commissioners have been treating me well,” Nass, 63, said Monday. “I’m happy here, I’m happy with the people here. I’d like to stay another seven to 10 years.”
Commissioners unanimously approved a 3 percent pay hike for Nass at their March 28 meeting.
Nass received the same percentage pay increase as other public utility district employees, Commissioner Hugh Haffner said.
Nass decided to put more of his pay into deferred compensation than last year, he said. He takes home $14,916 monthly and defers $1,000. Nass is taking home less than he did before the raise was approved, he said.
Nass’ pay package also is equivalent to what other general managers are making at comparable public utility districts, Haffner added.
“A lot of the other PUD managers across the state are looking more at deferred compensation and less of a raise,” Haffner said.
“It’s amazing how much more managers in private utilities make,” he added.
“We were trying to be pretty tight this year. He understood that this is not a time to ask for a lot more.”
Under a three-year contract negotiated two years ago, about 100 union employees receive a 3 percent raise each year, Nass said.
Raises for about 35 non-union employees such as Nass are based on performance, Nass said.
Nass was chief engineer for the Salt River Project in Tempe, Ariz. — the nation’s third-largest public utility with more than 900,000 customers — before becoming general manager at Clallam Public Utility District four years ago, he said.
Salt River Project is looking for a new general manager, and the person who is leaving is making $700,000 a year — but Nass won’t be applying for the position, Nass said.
“I had some friends call me to see if I was applying,” Nass said. “Coming from a small utility, I knew my chances were not good — and I’m happy here.”
Nass and his wife, Cyndy, live in Sequim.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladaily news.com.
