Woodbury City Council Lambasted For Massage Therapy Decision

To the Editor,

I witnessed an appalling lack of compassion Wednesday evening by the Woodbury City Council. By passing a Massage Therapy Licensing ordinance, they effectively put a massage therapist out of business. 

Who knows how many others will be affected?

She was there with her husband and her attorney asking for a half a sentence of text to be returned to the ordinance as it was drafted earlier, so she could continue her practice.

Through no fault of her own, the school at which she was trained no longer held accreditation by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or other nationally certification licensing organization. 

However, it is still in good standing with the State of California, and it was in good standing with the Certification Board at the time she attended school.

I am stunned that a person could be standing face to face asking to be allowed to continue making a living in Woodbury and be ignored. 

How could they take such a hard stand on this facet of the ordinance yet not insist on outside, objective evidence that what they are proposing really works?

There are ways to deal with the prostitution issue without regulating someone who isn’t causing any problems.

Why not take the time to learn about the non-licensure options in depth rather than jumping to regulation? If big old Minneapolis can do it without licensing Massage Therapists, surely little old Woodbury can do it too.

I’m sure the city will say that she can appeal via the appeal process outlined in the ordinance.

As soon as I saw that if turned down she could petition the Minnesota Court of Appeals, I saw dollar signs.

Massage therapists don’t make that much money. Can they afford to petition the Court of Appeals because the city wants them to prove they aren’t prostitutes?

I’m wondering if she is forced to move to a different city whether the City of Woodbury is planning to pay any rent that may be remaining on her lease.

Kathryn Z Berg, MA, CCH

VP, Minnesota Natural Health Legal Reform Project (www.mnhlrp.org)

Woodbury, MN