Lifeguard, 98K to 210K Annual.. U got what it takes??

JJ_BPK · 05-20-2011, 04:22

Where did I put my Speedo???

Quote:

Lifeguard pay of $200K riles Calif beach city
May 20 05:26 AM US/Eastern
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Aurora Toussaint brings her disabled son to the sun-kissed beaches of this Southern California city almost every day in the summer, knowing that the lifeguards who watch from their towers will be there in seconds should anything go wrong.

Yet Toussaint, who quit work and dipped into her retirement early to care for her seizure-prone son, was shocked to learn that most of the fulltime lifeguards in this city earn well over $100,000 in total compensation a year—more than Toussaint made in her previous life as a nurse and more than she believes is right in an economy where pink slips have become common fare.

"When I first heard that I was amazed at how much they make. To think that these are lifeguards! That's more than some doctors make," said Toussaint, 55, as she sat by the beach with her son's therapy dog, Romeo. "It does kind of make me feel like, `Gosh, maybe I should be a lifeguard.'"

That's the kind of reaction Newport Beach's 13-member fulltime lifeguard crew has drawn this month, since the local newspaper editorialized about lifeguard salaries, benefits and overtime pay that in at least two instances top $200,000 (with $400 for sun protection) as the city struggles to rein in pension costs.

The ensuing debate over the merits of having lifeguards as well-paid as some CEOs has divided this wealthy coastal city, spawned a pro-lifeguard Facebook page and created headlines as far away as England ("Time for a Career Change? California's Baywatch lifeguards paid up to $210,000 per year!")

continued:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

1stindoor · 05-20-2011, 06:19

Just another inflammatory article bemoaning the fact that someone made more money than someone else. So the retired nurse is pissed that someone out earned her...big eff'n deal. I'm sick and tired of listening to people bitch about how much someone should be or shouldn't be paid. I guarentee someone else looked at her salary when she was a nurse and thought it was a) a good paying job; b) grossly underpaid; or c) overpaid for what she actually did.

MTN Medic · 05-20-2011, 06:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

Just another inflammatory article bemoaning the fact that someone made more money than someone else. So the retired nurse is pissed that someone out earned her...big eff'n deal. I'm sick and tired of listening to people bitch about how much someone should be or shouldn't be paid. I guarentee someone else looked at her salary when she was a nurse and thought it was a) a good paying job; b) grossly underpaid; or c) overpaid for what she actually did.

She's probably pissed that she as a tax payer is footing the $210,000 bill for a kid to get a sun tan and phone numbers.

kgoerz · 05-20-2011, 06:34

Remember during the .com economic boom in the late nineties. Fed Govt workers were the lowest paid in the country. Also we probably had the worst retirement program. Now that times are bad.
I hear the civilians who probably were making four times what I ever make. Bitching about how much federal workers make. Also how our retirement plan is too generous.

**Peregrino** · 05-20-2011, 06:37

Hey - I remember lifeguard detail at Smith Lake! (Sometimes it pays to be on a UWO ODA.) Tough job. The hardest part was figuring out which dependants were 18 and which were 14 acting 18.

Richard · 05-20-2011, 06:50

Professional lifeguards are an important part of an economy like that of Newport Beach, aren't kids or high school/college summer hires, and do much more than people realize.

I wonder what they pay their firemen, LEOs, etc.

Richard

1stindoor · 05-20-2011, 07:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTN Medic

She's probably pissed that she as a tax payer is footing the $210,000 bill for a kid to get a sun tan and phone numbers.

Her own fault. People go about their life completely ignorant of everything else around them. I guarentee, if her "seizure-prone" son had an issue and one of the lifeguards didn't respond she would bitch or sue. Likewise if one wasn't around there would be people compaining that they were needed. The city gets about eleventy bazillion dollars from their beach tourism trade every year...and Joe Lifeguard isn't going to take a job that he feels isn't paying enough.

I'm just fed up with the topic because I've just recently had a similar arguement with an ass about how the military retirement system is bloated and we're overpaid for 20 years of service.

Last hard class · 05-20-2011, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Hey - I remember lifeguard detail at Smith Lake! (Sometimes it pays to be on a UWO ODA.) Tough job. The hardest part was figuring out which dependants were 18 and which were 14 acting 18.

Talk about breaking OPSEC. The happenings at Smth were classified higher than the ones at Mott.

Falls under the category of: It's not what we did but who we did it with.

LHC

**Pete** · 05-20-2011, 09:31

Just in case anybody didn't read the story.

The first part of the story is about the full time employees and they fall under the Public Safety section of the County - like the Fire Dept.

The people siting in the towers are the part timers paid $16 to $22 per hour.

So the question is really "Does the area need a dozen folks paid up to $200,000 per year to keep the towers painted in the off season?"

Dozer523 · 05-20-2011, 10:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

So the question is really "Does the area need a dozen folks paid up to $200,000 per year to keep the towers painted in the off season?"

There is no "off season" around Newport Beach.
Just down coast is Crystal Cove which is awesome with a mean walk up and down the bluff to reduce the crowd. (A few years ago there were single-wides right on the beach you could rent, but the Rec Dept closed that down.) Decent surfing for most of the day. But dangerous for about an hour as the tide is coming in. It hits a shelf and if it catches you wrong it will slam you straight down and the undertow will grab you and you might pop up 100 m out.
A lot of the LifeGuards are organized like "Ski Patrol" there -- volunteers.
(Not as easy a draw as NSP . . . don't need a free lift ticket.)