PROGRESS!

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

I have been working hard on behalf of the Silicon Valley Massage Therapy Advocates and have some good things to report; from both the educational and government relations stand point.

• SVMTA has established a relationship with West Valley Community College
• SVMTA has received a statement of willingness from West Valley faculty and staff to explore the possibilities of a tuition assistance grant from Sacramento and to create specialized curriculum for experience practitioners in Los Gatos (including credit for experience and challenging classes for credit)
• SVMTA has established a relationship with the new mayor Barbara Spector
• Mayor Spector has extended an invitation to participate in development of the criteria used to measure the success of the new ordinance.
• SVMTA is welcomed, by the Mayor, to give feedback as a representative from our trade (clearinghouse for feedback)
• I need feedback from YOU to insure I am serving the actual needs of the massage therapist and their clients in Los Gatos

Education

December 12/07, I met with faculty and staff from West Valley Community College including the department head, instructors, a staff grant writer and Jennifer Oliver, their Work Force Development Director. I relayed the challenges that we face in Los Gatos and they feel that there are a number of ways that they may be helpful.

The college may be able to design curriculum especially for our need and there is potential for grant money from the state to cover individual tuition and college resources. Special curriculum may take the form of the following:

• Career experience credit
• Ability to challenge some of the curriculum
• Opening extra sections, with more flexible times or dates
• Certification program in community education rather than on West Valley campus

Tuition and cost assistance could come from the State in the form of a grant. There is 5 million dollars earmarked for this type of assistance, to serve the need of the displaced indigenous worker; Workers already in the market but disadvantage by market forces or new regulation.

The college is willing to provide a grant writer if we can provide information about our needs. They want to be sure that there are a significant number of therapists that will be served by the grant. The grant will be awarded to a non-profit organization that will then disperse the funds to cover tuition and fees for training.

Government Affairs – Town of Los Gatos

On the government relations front, Justin Bradley from the NOVA Workforce Board and I met with Mayor Barbra Spector January 7, 08 and she was very helpful. She recognizes that there will be a few challenges in implementing this law and welcomes our input to help define what success would look like.

She encourages us to continue to monitor the council agenda and participate as the consultant to the town manager, Les White, develops the criteria by which to measure success in what is being called an “Implementation Report”.

The report will cover the success of process of participation and enforcement of the new law and whether the police are more successful with the addition of this new “tool”. This is an area where the voices of massage therapist could have the greatest impact. After all is said and done, if the law is not performing as intended it must be modified or eliminated.

The Mayor recognizes the Silicon Valley Massage Therapy Advocates organization as a strong voice serving the interests of the massage therapists in Los Gatos. She is willing to work with us to help us flourish and participate in the regulations that will support us.

I look forward to hearing from each of you. I will continue in this work if it is deemed valuable by the massage therapy community in Los Gatos. Please respond to confirm that you find this valuable, or with any feedback you would like to add to the process.

Thank you and I will continue to keep you informed.

Regards,

Kelly

Dec 03/07 Los Gatos Town Council Meeting

We had 10 therapists and 6 clients that were able to make to the Los Gatos Town Council meeting, Monday December 12/07.

Thank you to everyone that attended or spoke on Monday! It was mostly therapists that spoke and their demeanor was professional and sincere.

The process is not over! We can still have an impact. Six months from now the police are required to return to council with an implementation report. We can speak to the success of the ordinance and the process required to comply at that time.

We can create partnerships that help us comply and refine the law to improve its value.

If you wish to see archived video of the meeting Follow these steps:

1. Go to http://www.losgatosca.gov and click the "Agenda and Minutes" link.
   Select "Town Council Agenda & Minutes" menu item. It will take you to the archive.
   
   
2. Scroll to the December 3, 2007 meeting and click the "Video" link.
   The viewer will pop-up, embedded in the agenda to the right of the viewer.
   
   
3. Click the agenda item entitled "Public Communications" and the video stream will jump to the portion of the meeting in question.

Francesca Demore spoke first and made the salient point that she had not been contacted to participate in the drafting of the new massage ordinance and was in fact just now learning of it.

Marylin Asplin and Robert Lowe spoke of their extensive experience and credentials . They exemplify the type of therapist and therapy to be found in Los Gatos and yet were not informed of the changes to the laws regulating our profession. They eloquently called for an opportunity to participate and desired to learn more about the requirements.

Tori Valencia remarked she had been considering locating her 14 year massage practice in Los Gatos but this new ordinance made it extremely unattractive. She felt that the wording was vague and suggested that a specific training might fit the gap in training the ordinance creates.

When I spoke I tried to fit as much as I could in the three minutes allotted, mostly recap of my experience with the process and the fear that legitimate practitioners will choose to go underground. I asked all the supporters of our position in attendance to please stand and we were the majority in attendance.

The next steps for the Silicon Valley Massage Therapy Advocates and the local Massage Therapy Community are these:

1. Monitor the Town Council Agenda for the Implementation Report
1. Watch the website
2. Comment at the meetings
3. Bring stories and evidence of your experience with the implementation of the new ordinance
   
   
2. Create coalitions and partnerships to serve the Massage Therapy Community
1. SVMTA is working on a partnership with West Valley Community College to provide training and tuition assistance for therapists requiring additional training.
   
   
3. STAY INFORMED AND KEEP SPEAKING UP
   Always good advice.

Until next time,
Kelly

Inaugural Meeting of Silicon Valley Massage Therapy Advocates (SVMTA)

Thanks to everyone that made it to the inaugural meeting of SVMTA at Baker's Square last week. We made some real progress!

One of our new members, Dianna, brought some very useful legal information. Members Tom and Grant volunteered to gather more support through contacting massage therapists and other practitoners.

I will, of course, continue the website as well as do more legal research, develop partnerships in the community college district and hopefully with the chamber of commerce.

We will be meeting again - 1 hour before - the Los Gatos Town Council meeting December 3 (Monday) at 6:00 outside the Council Chambers.

I invited the new Town Manager, Greg Larson, to join us but unfortunately he has another commitment. He was very cordial and I look forward to more interaction with him on this issue.

Please come to the 6:00 December 3 SVMTA meeting before the council meeting to review our goals for the meeting and the tactics required by protocol.

We are required to submit a form to the council informing them as to which issue we, individually, would like to speak to. Every one wishing to speak about the massage ordinance will get the chance during "Verbal Communications". (That is the name of the agenda item that you enter on the card.)

I look forward to seeing everyone there! Remember, we are in it for the long haul.

We can make a difference!

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in Silicon Valley Massage Therapy Advocates. In the coming months I plan to share our adventures in government affairs.

I think it is going to be a bumpy ride.

I am taking the long view on this journey. I would like SVMTA to be a positive influence to serve the needs of massage therapists as well as the art and business of massage therapy.

SVMTA's first adventure is with the town Los Gatos. There is a brief history to this story that I will expound upon with the next entry.

I simply wished to start this blog and invite you to a meeting of concerned therapists and other health care practitioners tonight;

Baker's Square
University Avenue and Hwy 9 in Los Gatos, CA
Tonight, November 19/07 at 7:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there