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March
4 , 2004 Email Update
Dear SFOrdinance list members,
Today the first meeting sponsored by the Department of Public Health
was held to discuss issues related to implementation of the new San
Francisco Massage Ordinance.
I encourage anyone who is interested in being kept informed directly
by DPH to get yourself on their list by contacting Lorraine Aspiras
at lorraine.aspiras@sfdph.org and providing her with your:
Name:
Title:
Organization:
Organization Address:
Telephone:
Today's meeting was a poorly attended first step toward setting out
the tasks that need to be accomplished before the DPH target date for
implementing the new law, July 1, 2004.
The meeting was convened by Jack Breslin, the Director of Consumer Protection
of the Environmental Health Section of DPH. His Section is charged with
carrying out the law that the Board of Supervisors passed. His Section
carries out all of the health inspections for the restaurants and the
newly enacted law governing tatoo parlors.
Dr. Johnson Ojo, who testified for DPH at the hearings, also works in
this Section and is spearheading much of the implementation work. Breslin
and Ojo ran the meeting in a very orderly and open fashion making sure
that everyone got heard and the the meeting ran within its appointed
2 hour time frame.
They were very clear at the outset that DPH had no power to change the
law itself, only to develop the needed regulations for its implementation.
This was important because there was a contingent of four Feldenkrais
practitioners who were concerned that the new ordinance would require
them to get licensed by the city as massage practitioners.
Breslin said that they should submit a statement to him indicating why
they do not fit the definition in the law of massage practitioner and
he would forward it to the City Attorney's office for an opinion. If
the City Attorney ruled that they would be considered massage practitioners,
then they would have to go to the Supervisors with an amendment excluding
them from the law.
I encouraged them to get a copy of the model legislation language from
the AMTA that has been used in a number of states laws (the California
AB1388 draft most recently) to exclude themselves, along with other
bodyworker groups. (I have included the current AB1388 language at the
end of this email.) If you think you belong in this excluded group,
I suggest you to contact the Feldenkrais people. If you send me an email,
I will forward it on to them.
Other items on the agneda were:
1. Application process
2. Educational Materials/Available Resources
3. Culturally Sensitive Test
4. Inspection Form and Procedures
5. Violation and Penalty Assessment Procedures
6. Hearings
7. Criminal History Record
8. Appeal Procedures for Permit Denial
9. Temporary Practitioner Permit and Trainee Permit
10. Identification Cards
Three working groups were proposed: one for developing educational materials
and resources, one for the mandated test (which I will be a part of),
and one that will look at how DPH meets the requirements for verifying
the lack of a criminal record and passing other information to the Police
Department.
These groups should be meeting in the next few weeks and then another
general meeting will be held in about 4-5 weeks. Again, if you are interested
in being kept on the DPH list, contact them directly. I will continue
to send out updates after meetings that I attend. However, as stated
in a previous email, our Coalition has dissolved itself and every group
now needs to represent their own interests, as the Feldenkrais people
have done.
I also wanted to note that Dr. Jeff Klausner, the head of STD Prevention
and Control for DPH, made it very clear that Dr. Mitch Katz, Director
of DPH, belives that the least regulation of massage is the best regulation.
Aside from the initial permit application process for businesses and
practitioners, they will do most of their ongoing enforcement efforts
when there are complaints from the public.
DPH hopes to have a complete package describing the permitting process
available by May. Noteable absent from the table so far are the massage
schools and large massage establishments such as Kabuki Hot Springs,
Sunset Sauna, and the Bay Club.
When I started working on this project over five years ago, I had never
been involved in city government. I have learned an enormous amount,
been humbled many times by my ignorance, but feel like a proud contributor
to participatory democracy.
If this is your moment to come forward and take a more active role,
don't hesitate. Your voice counts.
In touch,
David Palmer
415-861-0443
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