County Plans to Drop Lifeguards at State Beaches

A dispute with the state over funding of services at local beaches grew hotter Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors voted to stop providing lifeguards and maintenance crews at some of the most popular local beaches beginning May 2.

An impasse over beach funding has been brewing for years, with the cash-strapped county insisting that the state and beach cities should increase their share of maintenance costs. Service costs at all of the local state beaches--including Malibu Surfrider, Manhattan, Redondo, Topanga, Dan Blocker, Point Dume, Las Tunas and Royal Palms--amount to $4.3 million annually.

This year, for the first time, the state agreed to give the county about $1 million for services, but Sacramento has warned that the cash was a one-time-only deal and was not meant to be a precedent.

Citing its own weak financial condition, the state had offered to give the beaches to the county, arguing that it cannot afford to share in the cost of their upkeep without severely hampering other critical state park services.

The county has threatened to pull its lifeguards and maintenance crews in the past, but on Tuesday, the supervisors signaled their frustration over the lack of progress more clearly than ever.

“To continue moving the (cutoff) date every six months or every year is playing into the hands of the state,” said Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who sponsored the motion. “We ought to tell them they have responsibility, that we don’t have the resources to subsidize these services.”

Supervisor Deane Dana, whose 4th District covers much of the area in dispute, bitterly opposed the motion, arguing that the county was jeopardizing years of consolidation of lifeguard and maintenance services under the county’s control and could be risking lives if services are severely disrupted.

“We are cutting our throats,” Dana said. “There are fewer people coming to Los Angeles County and fewer people still if we don’t keep up these services and keep these beaches clean.”

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke also expressed misgivings about the move, which would derail more than 40 years of county policy.

“It’s fine to be the tough guy, but when the first person drowns out there, we are the ones they are going to call,” she said.

But in the end, Antonovich was joined by Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky in moving to put the state on notice that it will have to assume responsibility for the beaches unless it is willing to come up with more money.

Patricia Megason, deputy director of the state Parks and Recreation Department, said she had not seen the Antonovich motion and could not comment on it. The state’s proposal to hand title of the beaches to the county has drawn fire from some environmentalists, state officials and supervisors who fear that the county may be more willing to exploit the commercial potential of the beaches.

Meanwhile, the county continues to negotiate with the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Avalon about upping the cities’ contributions for beach maintenance costs. Service agreements with those cities, which were scheduled to expire April 1, have been extended for one month.

Meanwhile, in a partial victory for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, the supervisors Tuesday approved a proposal to raise the salaries of the county’s most experienced prosecutors, beginning next year.

However, the board postponed a decision on a Garcetti proposal that would have given across-the-board raises to all deputy district attorneys. The board has balked at that plan because of the message it might send at a time of severe fiscal constraints.

In the action approved Tuesday, prosecutors at the highest salary levels who are rated outstanding would be given a 5.5% salary increase and be in line to receive a further 5.5% increase in 1999.

Garcetti told the board that his prosecutors have not received a raise in three years and noted that his top attorneys, who make about $97,000 annually, are underpaid compared to top lawyers in the county counsel’s office, who make about $105,000.

Garcetti said he is satisfied with the partial victory, but said he will still lobby the board for the across-the-board increases.

“It still sticks in the craw of some of our top people that they are not making as much as the Johnnie Cochrans or Robert Shapiros,” Garcetti said.