A newly-published document shows that Seattle’s publicly-owned electrical utility paid thousands of dollars to Brand.com to manage the online reputation of CEO Jorge Carrasco.

The document, which was received and published Saturday by the Seattle Times after a public records request, shows that Brand.com charged City Light $5,000 in December 2013.

As the contract states:

Enhances online branding and clears negatives by blanketing search results with positive content. Typically for businesses or individuals, often companies may use to create a positive buzz around the company as well as suppress any negatives associated with the company or executives at the company.

The Times added that City Light signed one contract with Brand.com in October 2013 and extended it in February 2014, authorizing payments of $47,500 “for services through the end of this year.” However, a utility spokesman told the Times that Seattle only paid $17,500 and wasn’t going to spend more.

"Among the mentions generated for City Light by the deal were blog posts on websites including Huffington Post, which did not disclose they were connected to a paid marketing campaign for the utility," the Times added.

The relevant article on the Huffington Post has since been removed. Neither City Light nor Dana Robinson Slote, a city spokeswoman, immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment. Ars did however put in a public records request for these documents.

Scott Thomsen, a City Light spokesman, told the Times that the contact with Brand.com was designed to “increase the visibility” of positive stories. Thomsen did not immediately respond to direct questions about City Light’s deal with Brand.com or if there are or have been any similar deals for other city employees.

The Times itself was baffled by the move. As it reported:

It’s not clear what negative stories City Light executives were trying to squash—or whether the utility got any lasting results for its money. Google search results for City Light last week were dominated by news and criticism of Carrasco’s proposed raise. Among the negative headlines from previous years that ranked high in search results was a Seattle Weekly article from 2008 that called Carrasco’s tenure at City Light “polarizing” and described the utility as “beleaguered.”

Earlier this month, the Seattle City Council approved a pay raise for Carrasco, up to $364,000 annually. Even at his previous salary of $245,000 per year, he was already the highest-paid public employee.

UPDATE Tuesday 10:55am CT: Scott Thomsen, a City Light spokesman, called Ars to say that he was unaware of any other similar city contracts.

"The first contract allows up to $7,000 of service," he said. "Then there was a contract that extended to a total of $40,000. The contracts is still open, we can use their services up to $40,000—at this time we do not have plans to spend any additional money."

He added that he was unable to provide the criteria by which City Light was using to evaluate its effectiveness, but did note that such an evaluation was ongoing. Thomsen also said he did not know who conceived of hiring a company like Brand.com.

Thomsen noted that the goal of City Light's online brand management contract, was as part of a larger marketing campaign to "position Seattle City Light as the nation's greenest utility." The utility, which serves Seattle and eight surrounding suburbs, is a monopoly—its customers have no other option.

"When you have an effort to improve satisfaction with their utility experience and you do research that indicates that many of your customers are not aware of the good things you're doing on your behalf, and they tell you that if they knew more, it increases their satisfaction with the utility," he said.

However, Thomsen could not point to any negative stories or opinions online that would be mitigated by employing the services of Brand.com.

Ars has filed a public records request with City Light and the City of Seattle to learn more.