San Diego has picked its next lifeguard chief, and he's not coming from the beach towers but from the city attorney's office. Daniel Orloff, a deputy city attorney who spent 15 years as a city lifeguard before moving into law, has been named to lead the division and is scheduled to take over on Oct. 24, pending completion of background checks.
The appointment comes just days after the city abruptly removed James Gartland from the top job on Oct. 5, a move first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Gartland had served as lifeguards chief since 2018, capping a city lifeguard career that began 31 years earlier, according to the Union-Tribune. A city spokesperson confirmed Gartland no longer works for the city but offered no explanation, with officials calling his departure a personnel matter, per the seed report.
In the interim, Deputy Chief Dan Eddy, the city's deputy fire chief of emergency operations and a firefighter since 2000, stepped in to lead the lifeguard division until Orloff takes over. The arrangement isn't unusual, since the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department encompasses both firefighters and lifeguards, allowing a senior fire official to fill the gap on an interim basis, the same report notes.
From La Jolla Beaches to City Hall
Orloff's path to the chief's office runs through the sand. He started as a seasonal lifeguard in 2010 and became permanent in 2019, before earning a promotion to sergeant in 2021 and reporting to the Pacific Beach station that July, according to earlier Union-Tribune coverage of his promotion to sergeant. As a sergeant, he oversaw day-to-day beach operations and filled in for other sergeants during emergencies, the article reported at the time, and he described his style then as leading by example rather than through authority, saying he aimed to maintain a humble leadership style.
He transitioned to deputy city attorney in 2023, focusing on public safety issues, and has also led two city labor unions, including the union representing deputy city attorneys, before resigning that post. Robert Logan said Orloff brings operational, legal, policy, labor and leadership experience to the chief's role, and Connor Robbins said the city's lifeguard union supports Orloff taking the job, according to the seed report.
What Orloff Says He'll Prioritize
Orloff has said he plans to modernize the lifeguard division while respecting its traditions, including using technology for emergency dispatch and firefighter communication without losing sight of the division's history, legacy and culture. He has also said the division should evaluate its older policies and procedures, and that he intends to rely on division members in decision-making rather than dictate from the top.
Among his stated priorities is preparing for what's being called a super El Niño winter, which could bring rising surf and heavy rain to the coastline his lifeguards patrol. The city's own El Niño planning page notes that officials are preparing for significant impacts from an El Niño the National Weather Service expects to intensify through fall and winter, according to the City of San Diego.
A Division Bracing for a Tight Budget Year
Whoever runs it, San Diego's lifeguard division is a sizable operation, with about 110 full-time lifeguards and roughly 200 seasonal lifeguards, the Union-Tribune's October report on the leadership change noted. The division's rank and file recently signed a three-year labor contract that includes no pay increases this fiscal year or next, with a 9.5% raise not landing until July 2028.
That wage freeze will greet Orloff just as he settles into the job, even as he takes on the added challenge of storm season preparations. For now, the city has not disclosed his salary, and officials have declined to detail why his predecessor was pushed out, leaving the exact circumstances of Gartland's removal unresolved.
