DEL MAR — After 31 years of service in the city of Del Mar, Chief Lifeguard Jonathan Edelbrock has a vision for how the division can reach its full potential — and it includes more lifeguards.
Once consisting of six full-time employees, the division currently has five — two senior lifeguards, two sergeants and the chief — and the equivalent of 45 part-time employees working throughout the year. However, meeting minimum staffing levels is a struggle, with someone required to be on duty 365 days a year from 6 a.m. to as late as 11:30 p.m.
In 2012, the division lost a sergeant position due to the impacts of the Great Recession and has been operating short one senior-level lifeguard ever since. With staffing demands at local beaches growing, particularly in the offseason, Edelbrock said it’s a good time to return that position.
“This is gonna get us up to what I would call just below median levels,” he said. “With all of that really comes an increased level of service for the community. We’re also hoping we end up saving a couple bucks and avoiding liability for exceeding part-time staff overtime.”
The city is also on board, having budgeted to hire one lifeguard sergeant in the upcoming fiscal year that begins in July. The Del Mar City Council approved that budget on Monday.
Del Mar attracts around 3 million visitors to its 2.5 miles of beaches annually. Lifeguards are tasked with establishing safe swimming and surfing areas, warning visitors of riptides and unstable cliffs, monitoring weather and surf conditions and, when necessary, performing water and boat rescues and emergency medical care.
After operating hours — generally, one hour after sundown — any emergencies are paged into one of the full-time staff members. Edelbrock said this could mean getting called out to the beach at 4 a.m. for a panga boat washing ashore, a stranded animal or an injured surfer.
In an ideal world, he said, the department could hire four new lifeguards full-time. For now, however, one additional sergeant will make a big difference in the division.
Due to short staffing, the city currently pays thousands of dollars in overtime to lifeguard employees, and many part-time staff are on an “hours diet” to prevent going over their yearly 1,000-hour limit.
“You basically get stuck in situations where you have to use some employees, and you can’t use others. It being almost the middle of June, I have some employees on an hours diet right now. We’re looking ahead to when we can have the people we need,” Edelbrock said earlier this month.
The arrival of a new sergeant will also allow for more structured oversight of the city’s junior lifeguard program, which offers skills training to youth ages 9 to 15. As of last year, the program operates in-house after being run by a private company for the past two decades.
Lifeguard Sergeant Tyler Grant, who started as a junior lifeguard and is now in his 26th year in the division, said program responsibilities are currently spread out between him and three other staff members. The new sergeant will be able to take on most of its oversight and other duties.
“It can be a little stressful. We’re excited to have another management role, to help out and watch the beach,” Grant said. “It will be nice to have two sergeants and two seniors … it will definitely spread the work out to another full timer, and it’s nice to have someone equal to me, because if I’m gone, there’s someone who can do my role.”
Hiring for the new position will likely take place at the end of August, Edelbrock said.
The city budget also accounts for two new positions in the planning and community development department, widely considered the city’s busiest division.
One new senior planner and one management analyst will assist the existing small staff in the demanding work related to the Coastal Commission, state housing requirements and other community development matters.
