Plan to End Beach Services Makes Waves : Hermosa Beach: County tells city to pay up or lose lifeguards and cleanup crews after Sept. 7. Saying current taxes should cover the costs, council members consider legal action.

With Los Angeles County planning to suspend lifeguard and beach-cleaning services at Hermosa Beach after Sept. 7, Hermosa officials are considering everything from closing the beach to charging out-of-town visitors to use it.

In a special meeting Tuesday, the Hermosa Beach City Council discussed those proposals, as well as possible legal action to stop the threatened suspension, but has not yet settled on a solution. Complicating matters is angry finger-pointing between the city and the county, each of which blames the other for causing the lifeguard crisis.

At the Stan Wisniewski, acting director of the county Department of Beaches and Harbors, said the city is at fault because it will not help pay for lifeguard and beach-grooming services.

But Councilman Robert Benz, who contends the city already pays more than its fair share in taxes and other subsidies to support those services, described the county’s decision to withdraw lifeguard services as blackmail.

After Wisniewski pointed out that Hermosa Beach was the only city that has refused to share beach costs with the county, Hermosa Beach Mayor Albert Wiemans retorted: “I find the entire contract arrangement between the county and beach cities--the only word I can find for it--asinine.”

The angry exchange came less than a week after the county Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to stop guarding and cleaning Hermosa Beach. Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Deane Dana dissented in the vote, taken as part of an effort by supervisors to offset a massive budget deficit.

The county spends, in direct and fixed costs, $1.3 million annually to guard and clean Hermosa Beach. To continue providing those services between Sept. 7 and June 30, 1994--the end of the fiscal year--the county would have to pay about $515,000.

So far, Hermosa Beach officials have refused to shoulder any of those costs, saying they already provide substantial subsidies to the county for lifeguard and maintenance services.

The lifeguards’ South Bay headquarters, for instance, is located in Hermosa Beach on property that the city leases to the county for $1 a year. The city, which is self-insured, helps indemnify the county against lawsuits. It also pays to keep beach bathrooms clean and to maintain the pier.

City officials say the beaches are a regional resource enjoyed by residents countywide, and that it therefore should be the county’s responsibility to keep them clean and safe.

“We (Hermosa Beach residents) pay $6.5 million in county taxes every year,” said Councilman Sam Edgerton. “I’d like to see half of that come back to Hermosa. Why should we support the county’s pet entitlement programs when they can’t even pick up an essential service which benefits the entire county?”

Councilman Robert Essertier, who says that a survey he conducted found that only 2% to 3% of the people rescued in Hermosa last year lived in the city, agreed: “What do we get for that $6.5 million? We get a library that’s open twice a week and lifeguard services to serve the people of Gardena, Carson and the San Bernardino Valley.”

County officials are not moved by those arguments.

In his comments to the City Council this week, Wisniewski said the county cannot afford to keep providing free lifeguard services to a city it is not obligated to protect. Cities that contract with the county for sheriff’s protection must pay for those services, he said. Why should lifeguard services be any different, he asked.

“There has always been a cost-sharing arrangement between the cities and the state, and what the county is trying to do is improve the terms so that it can continue to provide those services,” Wisniewski said. “In the absence of any cooperation from the city, unfortunately, the notice (of suspension) has come out.”

The dispute is complicated by the fact that Hermosa Beach is one of only a few cities in the county that holds the deed to its own beach. Beaches in the cities of Manhattan Beach, most of Redondo Beach and Torrance are among those beaches owned by the state, but protected and cleaned by the county.

During their budget deliberations, county supervisors considered suspending lifeguard and maintenance services at Hermosa Beach and eight state-owned beaches from Malibu to San Pedro. The county, however, agreed to continue serving the state-owned beaches after state officials and local beach leaders said they would help raise revenue to offset the costs for lifeguards.

Redondo Beach, for instance, may allow the county to install sun shelters, and then sell advertising space on them, to raise money for lifeguards. And Manhattan Beach city officials may provide the county with cash, probably not more than $200,000, to subsidize lifeguard services.

The county’s decision to suspend services at Hermosa came after Hermosa’s council voted against several proposals to help the county pay for beach services. Among the rejected plans were proposals under which Hermosa would make direct cash contributions to the county, allow the county to sell more advertising on the beach and permit vendors to do business on the beach, channeling a portion of their revenues to the county.

Hermosa does not appear to have entirely ruled out striking such a compromise with the county. On Tuesday, Councilmen Essertier and Edgerton said they would discuss the situation with Supervisor Dana’s office.

But in case those efforts fail, Hermosa officials are beginning to contemplate life without county-funded lifeguard services. Councilman Robert Benz suggested starting a volunteer lifeguard force, drawn largely from the community of local surfers. Mayor Wiemans suggested charging out-of-towners a fee to use the beach. And several council members questioned whether they legally could close off portions of the beach where lifeguard services were not provided.

Meanwhile, city officials say they may seek an injunction to prevent the county from pulling lifeguard protection from the beach after Labor Day.

“It’s impossible for Hermosa Beach to hire and train new (city-paid) lifeguards in the next three weeks,” said Councilman Essertier. “If the county isn’t forced to provide lifeguard services, then people are going to die.”