Gold: Utilities CEO pay raise, economic inequality deserve honest conversations

Kimberly Gold is serving her first term on the Colorado Springs City Council, which also serves as the Colorado Springs Utilities Board. The Springs Utilities Board voted unanimously on May 20 to raise CEO Travas Deal’s pay from about $550,000 to $700,000 by next year.

Most working-class people in Colorado Springs cannot even imagine retirement anymore. We are surviving paycheck to paycheck, stretching every dollar, praying the car doesn’t break down, praying the rent doesn’t go up again, praying the grocery bill stays under budget. And every month, it feels like the list of things we can no longer afford gets longer: housing, childcare, groceries, healthcare, utilities, gas.

So when residents turn on the news and hear that the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) could see compensation rise from $550,000 to nearly $700,000 a year, people are angry. And frankly, they have every right to be.

SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.

That number does not feel real to families making $70,000 a year while deciding which bills get paid first. I don’t just understand that frustration; I live it.

As a City Councilmember and Utilities Board member, my annual stipend is $6,250, and I fiercely monitor my utility usage because I cannot afford not to. I avoid using appliances during peak hours. I charge my electric vehicle after 9 p.m. to avoid higher rates. I keep the lights off. I keep the AC and heat off as long as possible. I turn off the faucet water while brushing my teeth. 

Do not let the title “Councilmember” fool you into thinking I am insulated from the realities most people in this city face. I am not. Like many people in Colorado Springs, I worry that retirement may never come for me. The more honest reality is that many of us will work until we die.

That is the emotional backdrop people are reacting from. Not jealousy. Not laziness. Not resentment toward success. I think most people are actually okay with other people making money.

The real problem is that wealth is not being redistributed in a way that allows working people to survive with dignity, despite working harder than ever. People are exhausted because productivity keeps rising, costs keep rising, executive compensation keeps rising; but ordinary workers are still barely hanging on. That anger is not irrational. It is the result of years of economic imbalance and failed priorities.

Now, I do want to be clear: $700,000 is not some outrageous anomaly for a utility CEO position of this size. It is market median compensation for comparable utilities across the country. And whether people like hearing it or not, if Colorado Springs Utilities wants to recruit and retain top-tier executive leadership capable of managing a four-service utility provider responsible for reliability, infrastructure, and public safety, we must offer competitive compensation.

But, if we insist on paying significantly below market value ($550,000 or even $600,000), we are likely going to attract a lower level of talent. And when leadership quality declines in an organization as critical as CSU, residents will pay for it in other ways: poor long-term planning, operational failures, infrastructure mistakes, rising inefficiencies, and costly decisions that impact every ratepayer.

In the long run, underpaying leadership can cost this city far more than paying competitively.

But here is where leadership failed the public. The issue is not just the salary itself. The issue is that residents were never meaningfully educated about why this compensation exists, how executive benchmarking works, or how CSU compares nationally before this discussion exploded publicly. At the Utilities Board meeting, Councilmember/Utilities Board member Nancy Henjum was the only one who took the time to acknowledge the realities of this decision when so many people are working harder to make ends meet. 

City leadership failed to communicate with residents in a timely, transparent, and emotionally intelligent way. People do not want corporate talking points after decisions are already made. They want honesty and context. They want acknowledgment of the economic pain they are living through every single day. 

And they especially want to know why executive salaries continue climbing while many workers inside and outside CSU still struggle financially. At CSU, most employee pay is targeted around 60th percentile market competitiveness, while linemen are closer to 90th percentile because of the demand and danger associated with that work. Those are important facts to know. 

People are not angry simply because someone makes $700,000. People are angry because the economy increasingly feels designed to reward the top while everyone else sacrifices more and more just to survive.

The world feels unfair because, in many ways, it is. But it does not have to be.

Change is possible. I will always encourage people to get involved. 

1. Vote. Vote in every election! Ballots for primaries will go out June 8 and are due by June 30. Midterm elections are Nov. 3, 2026. On April 6, 2027, we will be voting for mayor, three at-large councilmembers, and a District 2 councilmember. 
2. Participate in public town halls like the one that Councilmember Dave Donelson is hosting on May 28 and the one that the at-large councilmembers are hosting on June 2 with Braver Angels.
3. Provide your public comment at City Council meetings and other City boards, commissions, and committee meetings.