30-year marine safety chief to retire

Mark Klosterman, chief of marine safety in Laguna Beach, will be retiring at the close of business on May 1, City Manager Ken Frank has announced.

Klosterman has worked for the city in the Marine Safety Department for about 30 years.

He started as an Easter Week lifeguard in April 1974, was a seasonal/recurrent lifeguard from 1975 to 1979, and became a full-time lifeguard in 1979. Klosterman served as Marine Safety Lt. from 1993 to 1996 at which time he was promoted to chief of marine safety.

“Under Chief Klosterman’s direction, the Marine Safety Department has provided exemplary service to residents and visitors who use our beaches,” Frank said in a press statement.

“Each year, numerous lives are saved and injured people are treated by a dedicated core of full-time and seasonal lifeguards. We are not aware of any drowning which has occurred in Laguna Beach at a beach where lifeguards have been on duty.”

Klosterman plans to continue living in Laguna Beach where he and his wife, Marcia, have a home.

The city will be starting a selection process with the goal of selecting a new chief of marine safety prior to May so that there will be an orderly transition of leadership in the Department, Frank said.

— Cindy Frazier