Newport's Junior Lifeguard fees eclipse other cities

Broken down by hour, fees to participate in program are about 85% higher than they are in neighboring Huntington Beach.

July 16, 2011|By Mike Reicher, mike.reicher@latimes.com

(Scott Smeltzer,…)

NEWPORT BEACH — Every summer, school-aged children from neighborhoods like Dover Shores and Corona del Mar board the Balboa Island Ferry and travel together to the beach. They wear massive backpacks and matching red and blue clothes — all from a marquee surfwear brand, to be sure.

Parents have to buy the expensive clothes and pay much more if they want their kids to join this group. These youngsters don't belong to a private swimming club or yacht club, but the city-run Junior Lifeguards program.

Newport Beach has the most expensive junior lifeguard program among its neighbors and other prominent Southern California beach cities. It can cost more than twice as much as a comparable program run by Huntington Beach, and a look at the differences provides a glimpse into Newport's culture: more elaborate clothes, higher salaries for managers and a willingness to spare no expense.

"I'm assuming we're getting what we pay for," said Janine McDonald, a fortysomething chief executive of a management consultancy who brought her daughter for the first time to Jr. Guards last week. "The program has a brand and its own reputation … I think I'm paying for top-quality staff."

Indeed, Newport employs year-round guard supervisors with pensions and high salaries to administer the program, while Huntington Beach uses seasonal program coordinators. That, combined with a lower student-to-instructor ratio in Newport, means the city spends about 50% more per student on its instructors than Huntington.

Also, the Newport uniform package includes a choice of three hats, a towel and a swim cap, while Huntington students are limited to visors, and their towels are optional. Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver even makes custom Hawaiian shirts for Newport's hot dog dinner — so the instructors can appear in style.

"We are confident that Quiksilver will provide [uniforms] that will satisfy our participants and their discerning parents," lifeguard administrators wrote in a staff report recommending that the City Council approve the contract with the apparel maker.

Jennifer Schultz, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department, said the uniforms exemplify the Newport program: They are "all-inclusive" and "extraordinary." The Fire Department oversees the lifeguards.

"We just made it an exceptional program, and we determine the cost from there," Schultz said.

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