At candidate forum, Volusia chair calls for lifeguard pay boost to make beach safer

Former Volusia County lifeguard and current Volusia County Council Chairman Jeff Brower called for higher pay for lifeguards to help boost staffing and beach safety at a candidate forum on Thursday night.

Brower was visiting the coast near the Daytona Beach Pier recently with a news outlet tagging along and he was horrified at how big the gap was between lifeguards.

"There was so much space between the two lifeguard towers I could hardly see," Brower said. "That's absolutely unacceptable because I've sat towers like that where you can't see to the next guard without binoculars. We have to hire more people."

Brower and other candidates for county chair gathered at the Bellaire Community Group political forum at the Schnebly Recreation Center in Daytona Beach. Brower, Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette, former county Councilwoman Deb Denys and business owner Randy Dye will face off on Aug. 20 in the primary.

The first question at the forum was, 'How can the county better manage the beach?' The question referenced the drowning of a West Virginia man on July 3 in an unguarded portion of Daytona Beach as well as lifeguard shortages, "beach control issues, setback and erosion issues."

The county recently raised starting pay for lifeguards to $17 an hour with the opportunity for bonuses.

"They go to Buc-ee's and earn $20 an hour. It's just not enough. So if we want a safe beach, we're going to have to pay more," Brower said.

Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette agreed that the county needs to raise pay for lifeguards. He also said that the county needs to focus on rebuilding the coast.

Burnette said he grew up going to Volusia County's beaches and has watched the coastline deteriorate for about 30 years.

"We need an active renourishment program. There's a lot of sand in our inlet we can tap into, and that needs to be continuous," he said.

Denys echoed comments she's made before about leadership in the county, using the opportunity to criticize Brower.

"If you have an identified issue and you haven't addressed it in four years, let's talk leadership," she said.

She said the county should change how it patrols the beach to improve safety.

"We need to get those 4x4s back on the beach instead of the pickup trucks ... it's easy not to see somebody laying on the beach and drive over them because they're too high," Denys said.

Dye said the county has to devote the resources necessary to keep the beach safe and sustainable, including planning for sand renourishment and protecting wildlife and beach vegetation.

"Clearly our beach safety is not only critically important to the basic fundamentals of being safe, but also it's important to our community image and how it looks to our nation," Dye said.