Lifeguard '$100,000 Club' goes way beyond Newport

The Orange County Register reports:

In 2009, at least 55 L.A. County lifeguards earned more than $100,000 in pay, excluding benefits, according to the state Controller's Office web-based database on public employee pay. Twenty-eight "Ocean Lifeguard Specialists" were paid more than $100,000 in wages alone, as were 25 lifeguard captains. A lifeguard chief was paid $192,458, and an assistant chief was paid $195,035 – again, not counting benefits.

Right up PCH from Newport, in Huntington Beach, 13 lifeguards classified as "marine safety officers" in 2009 were paid $110,000 to $162,000, excluding benefits. A 14th marine safety officer just missed the hundred-grand club, earning $93,000.

What makes Orange County cities' lifeguard compensation packages more offensive, though, are the lucrative pension benefits. The pension formula for the Newport Beach employees and all but one in Huntington Beach is known as "3 percent at 50," allowing lifeguards to retire as young as 50, after 30 years of work, with 90 percent of their salary for the rest of their lives. This level is akin to what's provided to police – the top tier among California unionized public employees. (Huntington Beach's lifeguard division chief has a less-generous formula: 2.5 percent at 55, or 75 percent of salary after 30 years of service collectible no earlier than age 55.)

You don't hear much of Barack Obama talking about government workers paying their fair share.