City Council: No viable option to staff Capitola Beach lifeguard towers for rest of summer

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION) An agenda report from Capitola's City Council says lifeguard contracts were cut due to the economic impacts of COVID-19, and they said there is no viable option to staff the lifeguard towers for the rest of the summer.

According to the report, the City faced a $4.5 million budget shortfall, and the contract with the City of Santa Cruz to provide tower lifeguards was cut. There were also cuts to personnel costs, community grant funding to non-profits from the General Fund and non-personnel.

At the City Council meeting on June 25, Vice-Mayor Brooks asked staff to research options for lifeguards because beach restrictions were lifted earlier than expected.

The City Council report said staff reached out to the Santa Cruz Marine Safety Division about a possible contract for the rest of the summer, but it has finished summer hiring and cannot provide lifeguards.

They also reached out to the Central Fire Protection District about a potential partnership, but because of staffing constraints and fire season, they were not able to help.