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The workshop came a day after the most recent Bay County beaches drowning, the 11th this year.
Oberst wanted to know where the representatives of the Beach's lifeblood were. Her questions for them: Does the resort industry think a formal system of lifeguards is needed, or not? And how is it going to be funded?
"I need to know from the industry what they want to do on this beach," she said. "There is only one way to fix it, and that is with money."
The Beach City Council's Thursday workshop was intended to allow discussion on beach safety and the need for a lifeguard system similar to several Northwest Florida counties. Lifeguard representatives from Pensacola, South Walton and Destin described their systems and how they are funded, and members of the public weighed in with their thoughts.
Although no one from the Beach's largest industry showed up, Paul Wohlford, vice president of sales and marketing for The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, said afterward his group supports enhancing beach safety "if we can put the economic puzzle together," including the use of bed-tax funds.
Police say 25-year-old Dave Gallienne of Panama City drowned Wednesday near the Wyndham condominiums, becoming the 11th drowning victim this year and ninth in Panama City Beach. Two others have died along county beaches.
Bob West, Pensacola Beach public safety director, said his stretch of sand once was considered one of the most dangerous in the country before instituting a string of seven towers and 34 lifeguards at a cost of $700,000 per year. Since then, there have been only four deaths over the past five years.
Gary Wise, director of beach safety for South Walton, said he employs 30 lifeguards who staff eight towers with a budget of $640,000 per year. His lifeguards use most of their time for safety awareness and education, he said. There have been no deaths there this year.
Panama City Beach has strengthened requirements for open-water lifeguards employed by vendors, certified a training program for open-water rescue at the Frank Brown Park aquatic center and mandated that Beach businesses post explanations of the flag warning system.
The city has three surf patrol officers who patrol the beach, and has promised to fund two lifeguards at the city pier next year. But Caryn vonBlankonburg, a competitive deep-sea swimmer and coach of the Panama City Swim Team, told the council Thursday that four would be needed, two for each side.
Councilman Ken Nelson said he would hate to wake up next year and see the deathby-drowning count once again begin to rise. He proposed adding an additional surcharge of up to a half-dollar to room rentals for beach safety, including lifeguards.
Although some lifeguard systems in Northwest Florida are funded by bed-tax funds, city attorney Doug Sale said he thought using Tourist Development Council money could be challenged in court.
"The question becomes what is the primary job of a lifeguard: tourism promotion or public safety?" he said.
Councilman Jeff Ferguson said the city needed to continue pushing for improvements.
"We have a system in place, but we are in need of improvements. And I would also like to hear from the (tourism) industry," he said. "We definitely have a moral obligation to move forward, to make some inroads."
The council plans to schedule another beach safety workshop in November.
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