From the Orange County Register:
High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city's full-time lifeguards are paid a salary of over $100,000 and all but one of them collect more than $100,000 in total compensation.Of course some might argue that the NB lifeguards are underpaid compared to, say, Yasmine Bleeth:
When thinking about career options with high salaries, lifeguarding is probably not one of the first jobs to come to mind. But it apparently should. In Newport Beach, lifeguards are compensated well, when compared, say, to the county annual median household income is $71,735.
According to a city report on lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards, 13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation; one lifeguard collected $98,160.65. More than half the lifeguards collected more than $150,000 for 2010 with the two highest-paid collecting $211,451 and $203,481 in total compensation, respectively. Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000. And they also receive an annual allowance of $400 for "Sun Protection." Many work four days a week, 10 hours a day....MORE
I'd counter that working in Newport Beach rather than Miami there's always the possibility of giving mouth-to-mouth to PIMCO's Bill Gross. Of course they don't get to hear David Hasselhoff singing between takes.
