In my last column, I mentioned all the various meetings that I have been attending in my new role as Lakewood City Councilor. At the March 17, 2008 City Council Study Session, the Lakewood Police Department presented a proposed ordinance for licensing of massage therapists. A lengthy discussion was held that Monday night and has continued.

Currently, the City has a 15-year-old ordinance that requires all massage parlors to be licensed. This ordinance subjects businesses to a police department background investigation, but it does not apply if the business employs only persons who qualify as massage therapists. A massage therapist is someone who has completed at least 500 hours of training from an accredited school. All of the massage parlors in the City, including those at which prostitution arrests have been made, have fallen under this exception. Unfortunately, this loophole also makes it easier for illegal activities to occur at some of these massage parlors. Employees at these massage parlors have been able to purchase fraudulent certificates documenting 500 hours of training. When the LPD checks, the schools are either closed or they "confirm" attendance by the person in question.

The Special Investigations Unit of the LPD routinely conducts labor-intensive undercover operations at massage businesses throughout the City. Typically such operations require seven to ten police agents and support personnel, most of them borrowed from other units. To rectify this growing problem, the LPD recommended that individual massage therapists be licensed by the city, and not the massage therapy centers. This licensing would involve fingerprinting, photographing, and conducting background investigations of the persons seeking to be licensed as a massage therapist. Any person convicted of a sexual offense or any crime involving prostitution would be denied a massage therapist license.

The main points of the proposed ordinance are as follows:

1) Licensing would be required for any person who has performed or offered to perform a massage in exchange for something of value. Exceptions would include hospitals, nursing and convalescent homes, licensed cosmetologists, manicurists, chiropractors, barbers, athletic trainers, licensed acupuncturists, reflexologists, and students of licensed educational institutions. This list is not all-inclusive.

2) The applicant must complete 500 hours of training in massage therapy from a qualified massage therapy school and provide proof of satisfactory completion of a national certification examination for therapeutic massage or proof of membership in good standing in one of two professional massage therapist organizations. Massage therapists currently working within the City limits would be required to submit a completed license application within 90 days after the effective date of the proposed ordinance (should the ordinance pass).

3) The proposed cost for this license would be a one-time fee of $50 plus the cost of the background investigation, estimated to be around $35. The overall cost appears to be less than other cities surveyed. For purposes of comparison, check out the City of Englewood's Municipal Code, Chapter 5: Massage Therapy for massage therapist's license requirements.

4) Licenses would be valid for as long as the massage therapist continues to work within the City, unless revoked or suspended. The licensed massage therapist would be required to display the license in the place of business and to have a photographic identification card that would have to be presented upon demand of a peace officer or a designee of the City Clerk. The license holder would have to grant the LPD the right of inspection.

One might argue that this issue should be regulated at the state level and, indeed, this question was asked at the study session. Colorado is one of 10 states that do not have state requirements for massage therapist licensing. Some states require more than 500 hours of training and require continuing education.

The LPD and other City Staff have spent many months researching this issue before presenting this to City Council. Since March 17, myself and other councilors have heard from massage therapists and concerned citizens. The comments have ranged from support for the ordinance to total disagreement, to concerns with proving the 500 hours of training, to how this might impact other alternative therapies that might involve some massage.

This issue will continue to be addressed in upcoming City Council meetings. If you have anything you would like to share, feel free to contact your City Councilor. You may also review the March 17, 2008 study session online at www.lakewood.org.