Wanted Beach Lifeguard – Salary $200k

Writers worldwide are chatting about Newport Beach’s year-round lifeguards getting compensation packages that sometimes top $200,000, the latest spit-coffee-on-the-computer-monitor revelation concerning public-employee pay.

Discussion of the six-figure salary-and-benefit packages – which include $400 a year for sunglasses and “sun-protection materials” – is all over Twitter, and has even made its way across the Atlantic.

“Time for a career change? California’s Baywatch lifeguards paid up to $210,000 per year,” was the headline at the U.K.’s Mail Online.

“In the latest example of government spending gone wild, The Orange County Register reported that some lifeguards in the nearly bankrupt state of California make over $200,000 per year,” said the International Business Times.

Closer to home, one Orlando blogger said this: “Lifeguards in Orange County’s Newport Beach are earning $200,000 or more a year for the rescue work on beaches where botox, breast implants and cosmetic surgery are rampant.”

The lifeguards in question are part of a 13-person management team; by contrast, the towers are staffed by 200 or so seasonal guards who make about $20 an hour, give or take. Lifeguard management laid out their case in an interview with Register columnist Barbara Venezia, pointing to Newport Beach’s heavy crowds and the potential for public-safety risks if staffing levels are reduced.

In response to proposals for cutting lifeguard hours, they also have launched a Facebook page – “City of Newport, Let the Lifeguards Stay” – that has more than 1,500 fans.

I checked into what nearby cities are paying, and also chatted with Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff, and learned a few more things that might be of interest to our friends around the globe.

For one, Newport isn’t alone. Huntington Beach in 2009 paid a dozen lifeguard supervisors (known as “marine safety” officers and lieutenants) more than $100,000 in salary. Specifically, they took home anywhere from $110,000 to $162,000, not counting benefits.

They receive the same pension plan as their Newport Beach counterparts – retire at 50 and get 90 percent of salary each year for life, assuming 30 years of service.

Newport actually compares favorably. In 2010, it paid eight lifeguard supervisors more than $100,000; specifically, their salaries were from $101,000 to $149,000, not counting benefits.

In both cities, overtime pay was a big factor, often reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars.

As for Kiff, he doesn’t want to detract from the service lifeguards are performing: “The lifeguards do put their lives on the line, clearly. When they have to go out and rescue people from the Wedge, we can all just stand on the shore and be terrified at what they’re doing.”

I noted that these full-time lifeguards aren’t staffing the towers, and Kiff replied that while that’s true, they must train their subordinates and must be capable of such rescues.

In addition, they have more than 200 seasonal lifeguards under their command. “That’s a lot of people to supervise,” Kiff said.

The City Council will decide how to proceed. Kiff has suggested converting some full-time lifeguards to part-time, but he’s open to finding other ways to save. Also, while contract talks aren’t under way, Kiff says the lifeguards’ pension is excessive.

“I think they’re appropriately designated as (public) safety employees, but I think their retirement benefit is wrong – I think it’s too much,” Kiff said.

What about you? Does the compensation seem excessive? Or does the job’s importance make it justifiable? Let us know in the comments.