The city of Kent has canceled its lifeguard program this summer at Lake Meridian Park due to a lack of applicants.<\/p>\n
“We were not able to recruit the 16 to 20 lifeguards we need to staff the program,” Mayor Dana Ralph told the City Council at its June 1 virtual meeting.<\/p>\n
Ralph told the council May 18 about the lack of applicants as just three people had applied. The city tried a social meeting blitz on its Facebook and Twitter accounts and several local TV news stations reported about the shortage of applicants after a Kent Reporter website story about the issue.<\/p>\n
“We’ve had difficulty in recruiting lifeguards, as are most other jurisdictions around our area and there’s a variety of reasons for that,” Ralph said.<\/p>\n
Ralph said last month that part-time positions are hard to fill when unemployment pays far more than a part-time job. She said restaurants, service organizations and other cities face a similar problem.<\/p>\n
People on unemployment receive pay from the state as well as a $300 weekly payment from the federal government. That federal payment lasts until Sept. 6 as part of the pandemic relief package.<\/p>\n
The city lifeguard positions would have paid about $16 per hour, which is less than what many people can collect if they are on unemployment.<\/p>\n
“It’s not for a lack of trying and it’s not just a city of Kent issue,” Ralph said about the attempt to fill the jobs.<\/p>\n
City parks staff will post extra signage to alert people about no lifeguards being on duty, Ralph said. The park is at 14800 SE 272nd St.<\/p>\n
Ralph said funding will remain in the city budget in an effort to return the lifeguard program in 2022.<\/p>\n
“We will be out of the pandemic and hopefully not have the same problem,” Ralph said.<\/p>\n
The city of Kent took away lifeguards last summer at the Lake Meridian beach because of budget cutbacks due to COVID-19, although that didn’t stop people from diving off the dock and swimming in the marked-off area during hot summer days.<\/p>\n
City leaders decided during budget negotiations late last year to restore the lifeguard program for this summer with the expectation that people would fill the part-time jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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