The city is poised to make $34 million in cuts to lifeguard and fire services to help bridge the city’s anticipated $179 million shortfall in the 2011 general fund. “Since all departments have experienced budget reductions over the past two years, cuts that had minimal impact on core services have already been taken,” wrote Fire Chief Javier Mainar in a Nov. 3 letter to the Fire and Rescue Department. “Consequently, recommendations for cuts to core services, where a majority of our expenses occur, were inevitable this go round, given the size of our target.” Fire and lifeguard stations may be forced to close during this round of budget cuts, according to Mainar. “While I cannot yet share with you the specific cuts submitted, I can tell you they include both non-personnel expenses (supplies, services, outlay) and personnel expenses (overtime and staffing) throughout the department,” Mainar wrote.   The city expects to finalize its budget cuts by Nov. 24 and implement the budget reductions by Jan. 1, 2010. The city will hold its first public hearing concerning the budget cuts on Dec. 7 and a second public hearing on Dec. 14, at which time City Council is expected to vote on the proposed cuts. La Jolla lifeguard Gavin McBride said staffing levels have already been cut to a minimum and that the department may have to staff stations with one lifeguard or close them altogether. McBride and other lifeguards have formed the San Diego Association for Lifeguards to inform the public about the pending cuts. McBride estimates 80 percent of the city’s full-time lifeguards are members of the association. Visit their website at www.san-dal.webs.com. “Our mission is to let the people know what’s going on,” McBride said, speaking as a citizen on behalf of the association. “Our main purpose is to keep the level of staffing we have.” Shores station ready to go Plans to revamp the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station are ready to go, and so the Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhood Services has recommended re-appropriating funds to the lifeguard station. The committee has recommended to City Council that the city spend the remainder of its 2002 Fire and Life Safety bonds ($687,851) and the unused funds from the completed Pacific Beach Lifeguard Tower and Grand Avenue restrooms ($75,290) on the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station. Construction on the station is expected to begin as early as January 2010. “The design plans for the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station are 100 percent complete, and, since it will be the first project to reach the construction stage, the likelihood of expending the uncommitted funds in an expedient way will be the greatest,” stated Report 09-135, which the committee has submitted to City Council for approval. Therefore, the committee recommends transferring the $623,000 in deferred maintenance revenue from the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station to other fire and lifeguard projects that await funding. The transfer in funds helps the city spend its bond money more quickly, since it has a shorter expenditure time than deferred maintenance funds. The La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station will cost an estimated $3.4 million for the design, construction, site improvement and demolition of the existing tower, according to Jihad Sleiman, the city’s project manager. The station will be split into two buildings with a 30-foot observation tower. The buildings will house male and female locker rooms, a first aid room, a reception area and storage areas for emergency vehicles and equipment. Design plans for the Point Loma Fire Station 22 and South Mission Beach Lifeguard Station are both approximately 60 percent complete. Design plans for improvements to the Mission Beach Lifeguard Station are approximately 60 percent complete.  In addition, the committee recommended transferring $100,000 from the Disability Services Program to the Children’s Pool lifeguard tower for accessibility improvements. Construction is expected to begin on the new lifeguard station in September 2010. The former lifeguard station was condemned last summer. To read Report 09-135 visit /www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk and click on “Reports to City Council.”