Ordinance puts pressure on massage therapists in LV

Erin Neff

Thursday, Oct. 14, 1999 | 11:56 a.m.

A recently amended city ordinance requiring massage therapists to get national certification -- in part to weed out prostitution -- is leaving many legitimate masseuses feeling targeted.

The Las Vegas City Council approved an amendment to the city code Sept. 15 requiring massage practitioners to get certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) within 120 days.

But the certification doesn't simply require filling out a form and sending a fee to the McLean, Va., based national accreditation board.

A broad-topic test, which includes questions about Eastern religious philosophy some Christians find offensive, is offered only to masseuses who have already completed 500 hours of in-class training. Many of Southern Nevada's 3,700 massage therapists have fewer than 300 hours.

Finding space in a school, finishing the course work, and taking and passing the national test is considered impossible to do by Jan. 15. But a letter from the city advising independent massage therapists of the new requirements stated that failure to comply would result in the loss of their city business license.

"I'd be out of business basically," said Cyndi Winslow, who owns a massage business and has the appropriate licenses in the city, Clark County and Henderson.

Winslow got her licenses in 1995 after graduating from massage school with 250 in-class hours.

Not only would she have to pay to go back to school, she'd have to find one offering the continuing education coursework she needs.

"It's too much of a time constraint," Winslow said Wednesday afternoon in a meeting at City Hall attended by about 60 massage therapists, Metro Police representatives and city officials.

Jim DiFiore, the city's director of business licensing, said he believes a compromise can be worked out and promised that nobody who came to the meeting Wednesday would lose their licenses Jan. 15.

"We've learned that 120 days is very unreasonable," DiFiore said. "Believe me, the intent of this ordinance was not to put anybody out of business."

At the beginning of the meeting, DiFiore said the continuing problem of massage businesses being fronts for prostitution was a driving force in seeking the change.

Jan Mason, who owns Harbor Lake Therapeutic Massage, which just opened, said she feels targeted and fears her new business will fail because she needs additional schooling and certification. She said she believed Metro and city licensing staff should focus more attention on Yellow Pages ads and the exotic newsletters handed out on the Strip and downtown.

"If it says, 'Six-foot-two, blond hair, blue eyes, won't disappoint,' that's not us," Mason said.

Most of the massage therapists who attended Wednesday's meeting said they did not have a problem with tougher requirements being applied to their industry. However, many asked that people who have already been practicing massage be allowed to be "grandfathered in" to the new requirements.

In 1996 when the city last amended its massage ordinance, it increased the number of education hours to 500. At the time, those with fewer hours who had already been licensed were "grandfathered in" to that provision.

Metro Sgt. Vincent Cannito said the ordinance change wasn't meant solely to weed out prostitutes.

"We have people coming in from all over," Cannito said.

Each state has different requirements for training and some massage schools have been determined to be merely "certificate factories." Cannito said the NCBTMB certification seemed the best way to sort out the differences when Metro does background checks on massage therapists prior to the issuance of their business licenses.

Paula Spradling, who owns a day spa and runs a massage school, said she believes those who have already completed training in Nevada should be exempt.

"You are using the (national certification) testing as a form of enforcement," Spradling said. "You cannot do Metro's job for them with a test."

In addition to taking time, gaining certification would require quite a bit of cash.

Massage schools average between $4,000 and $6,000. The test is $200 each time it is taken until the person passes. Business licenses in Clark County and the city are each $200 annually. Add in background check fees, rented space for a massage business and insurance and the $17,000 average annual massage income makes it difficult for many to manage.

Vahan Tafralian, vice president of the Dahan Institute for Massage Therapy and a state lobbyist for the massage industry, said he considered the amended ordinance to be "authoritarian."

Tafralian said despite his expertise, he doubts he would be able to pass the NCBTMB test.

"I couldn't take an algebra test (today) even though I passed it 20 years ago," Tafralian said.

DiFiore said he would hold another meeting with those concerned about the recent ordinance to discuss a possible compromise. It is possible the 120-day time requirement can be lengthened to one year, he said.

The City Council passed the ordinance 4-0 on Sept. 15, with Councilman Michael McDonald absent for the vote. Any changes would have to be introduced as a new bill and then sent to the council's Recommending Committee for a hearing before the full council could vote on them.

Clark County, meanwhile, is considering a similar change in its massage ordinance. Representatives from the county and Metro who attended Wednesday's meeting said they would bring back concerns raised by massage therapists to the county staff members drafting that ordinance.