Lifeguarding in OC: $200,000 (Orange, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach: house, compensation, taxes)

[CAVA1990]

This thread is duplicated on the Orange County forum and should be merged. I don't understand what business this is of anyone who doesn't live in Newport Beach, which I doubt anyone is on here. It's their money to spend how they want. Keep in mind a lot of the higher paid guards are also sworn peace officers. I'm sure the city probably pays its cops and firefighters similarly. If you don't like it, don't move there.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

This thread is duplicated on the Orange County forum and should be merged. I don't understand what business this is of anyone who doesn't live in Newport Beach, which I doubt anyone is on here. It's their money to spend how they want. Keep in mind a lot of the higher paid guards are also sworn peace officers. I'm sure the city probably pays its cops and firefighters similarly. If you don't like it, don't move there.

Do you comment only on things happening where you live? There is nothing wrong with people not from OC to comment on this. Public policy, use of tax money, etc. are issues interesting and relevent to almost everyone. Did you care about the corruption and excessive pay in Bell California of their city officials?

I have a hard time believing that each of these lifeguards saves 150 people from drowing a year. That's one person every two days per guard. Someone screams because they stepped on glass, the lifeguard saves them. Sure they are important and DO save people's lives. But I find it hard to believe there aren't lots of qualified lifeguards who would do this job for less money.

[Fontucky]

Newport Beach wants the best. How do you attract and keep the best? Pay them well. I'm not seeing a problem here.

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Few get it because few are well qualified. One has to be a very strong ocean swimmer (that eliminates most people right there) with very good uncorrected vision who understands and can handle oneself well under the worst conditions (riptides, cross-currents, big waves, etc.). It also helps if you've spent a lot of time in the waters you'd be guarding and your character is known by the existing staff (attentiveness. judgment, reliability, etc.) There's a lot that goes into making a good beach guardt that the average joe just doesn't have.

For the pay and benefits offered, I bet there are thousands of qualified applicants.

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Newport Beach wants the best. How do you attract and keep the best? Pay them well. I'm not seeing a problem here.

You can get the "best" for a lot less. I would like to know how many people apply when an there's an opening, I'm guessing there's a ton of applicants. It's the same argument with the prison guards, people always say you need to pay a lot because it's a tough job yet as discussed on another thread, there was 120,000 applicants for 900 positions. It's a matter of supply and demand.

[slo1318]

Originally Posted by esmith143

First of all, that's 70,000

Social Security Online - Social Security Organizational Structure and Functional Information

Second of all, that's 1 employee per 4,000 clients. What would you consider an adequate ratio?

Aetna (the health insurance company) serves a much smaller fraction of Americans and it has 34,000 full time employees.

I know thats the official count. His software was designed for them and their peripheral staff of 240,000

[slo1318]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Do you comment only on things happening where you live? There is nothing wrong with people not from OC to comment on this. Public policy, use of tax money, etc. are issues interesting and relevent to almost everyone. Did you care about the corruption and excessive pay in Bell California of their city officials?

I have a hard time believing that each of these lifeguards saves 150 people from drowing a year. That's one person every two days per guard. Someone screams because they stepped on glass, the lifeguard saves them. Sure they are important and DO save people's lives. But I find it hard to believe there aren't lots of qualified lifeguards who would do this job for less money.

Exactly right, but the real issue here is the overall employee compensation/pensions throughout the state, not just Newport. We can find these story every day.....

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by esmith143

Let's restate this more accurately, shall we? "In Newport Beach, California, full-time lifeguards (a division of fire department) average a little over $100K/year before benefits but after overtime. They are paid this money because each lifeguard saves an average of 150 drowning people per year. Under a certain accounting scheme which includes everything from payroll taxes to employer 401k matching, which is never used for private employees but only for public employees, two of these lifeguards who collected most overtime in 2010 cost more than $200k/year to the city."

But I'm sure that Mish would prefer that firefighters and lifeguards did their jobs for minimum wage and ate cat food.

Ah yes, the typical Leftie argument - "if you state that you want governments to live within their means, you MUST want people to live on poverty wages, eat cat food and OLD PEOPLE WILL DIE."

I thought you all were FOR equal wages. Or is that only with regards to private sector?

[jazznblues]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Newport Beach wants the best. How do you attract and keep the best? Pay them well. I'm not seeing a problem here.

Is a 20 year lifeguard better than a 2 year lifeguard? I don't believe there is a huge skill development that comes with vast experience for lifeguards. It is possible that older, more expensive lifeguards, are not as fit as a 22 year old ex-NCAA swimmer that California produces in large quantity. And that 22 year old is probably happy to do this luxury job for $35,000.

This job should not be structured for long term employment. It should be thought of as a 5 year job at most. Set max pay at $50K and you'd get turnover, with a steady flow of younger people willing to work for much less than they are paying now.

[MtnSurfer]

One thing to consider is that the guards do have management (captains, etc...) like the police and fire departments. So I could imagine someone like that earning significantly more.

Also there are many college age guards who work only for the summer months and earn much less. It is *very* hard to become a fulltime year round guard. I guess once one graduates to that level their earnings significantly increase as do their duties. Whether or not they also police and work closely with fire will depend on the city/county they work in. Although I don't think this is too unusual, especially in SoCal beach communities like Newport. I'm sure they are doing more than the summer kids in terms of oversight, planning, etc...

Hey, if they can earn that much money then great. I just find high 6 figures surprising for a guard job. On the other hand I'm sure police and fire in Newport Beach are earning a similar wage based on experience and responsibilities. Are there any other states which pay police or fire more than CA? I'm talking about the larger more populous regions like LA County Fire, etc...

Derek