Biloxi Council Weighs Wage Increase Amid Long-Running Lifeguard Shortage
BILOXI - At the council's Aug. 5 regular meeting, Jamie Lee, a Parks and Recreation official, briefed members on staffing troubles at the pool. "So when people say just go hire a bunch of lifeguards, it's just not that simple," Lee said, citing certification requirements through the American Red Cross. Councilman Gray asked whether raising pay might address the shortfall, saying, "At $15 an hour, you think that increase the pay would help." Later in the meeting, Councilman Marshall pushed back on the framing of the problem, telling the department, "That's just that's a 12-year excuse, not a 12-year problem."
Council members did not settle the wage question at the meeting. Separately, the council is considering a "swim at your own risk" waiver that would allow the pool to reopen without full lifeguard staffing.
The exchange puts on the record that the city's own staff has acknowledged a service gap affecting a public facility for more than a decade, tied to an advertised entry wage of $15 an hour that officials in the meeting suggested may not be enough to attract applicants. Any wage increase would have to move through the city's budget process, while the proposed waiver would let the pool reopen without resolving the underlying staffing question. Exact figures, the pool's title, and the 12-year timeline cited during the meeting have not been independently confirmed against city hiring records or the posted job listing.