Welcome City Attorney Gina Dahl and a City of Billings Staff Panel on the City Spa Ordinance
Join us on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81628378931?pwd=c0VBbjl2ajNuRjJmOHFpNzlXZHVBZz09
Meeting ID: 816 2837 8931
Password: 437002
Please join city attorney Gina Dahl and a panel of Billings city staff discussing the proposed massage ordinance via Zoom. Panel members include city manager, Chris Kukulski, Police Chief Rich St. John, and Planning and Community Services Department Director at City of Billings and Yellowstone County, Wyeth Friday.
Gina was selected for the position of Billings city attorney when Brent Brooks resigned. She is working with a subcommittee from the council to draft recommended changes in the city massage ordinance. The committee is composed of *4 members, 2 proponents and 2 opponents of the current draft.
2-1-21 – present: City Attorney, Billings, Montana
2016 – 2021: Assistant City Attorney, Billings, Montana
2008 – 2016: Hill County Attorney, Havre, Montana
2003 – 2008: Deputy Hill County Attorney, Havre, Montana
2001 – 2003: Deputy Cascade County Attorney, Great Falls, Montana
In the past, I’ve been involved in a number of task forces, boards, and other associations, including the following:
Hill County area:
Adult Protection Team
Child Protection Team
Sexual Assault Response Team
Hill County Action Team
Mental Health Local Advisory Counsel
Coordinated Community Response (domestic violence task force)
Fetal Infant Child Mortality Review team member
Task force member – Clean Indoor Air Act – Tobacco Use Prevention Program
Hill County Coalition for Rethinking Drinking – formerly known as the Community Change Project
State associations:
Board member – Montana County Attorney’s Association
Board member – POST (Public Safety Officer Standards and Training) Council
Nationwide:
Member of NSBA-COSA (National School Boards Association – Council of School Attorneys)
Volunteer Board Member
United Way
HRDC, District 4
Previous member of community associations:
Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie #166, Havre, Montana
Elk’s Lodge #1201, Havre, Montana
Optimist’s International Club 13060
Contact Info for the Billings City Council
Email all council members – council@billingsmt.gov
Mayor Bill Cole: 406-657-8296 coleb@billingsmt.gov * (proponent)
Ward 1
Kendra Shaw: (406) 670-7772 shawk@billingsmt.gov
Mike Yakawich (406) 254-2445 yakawichm@billingsmt.gov
Ward 2
Frank Ewalt: 406-861-8964 ewaltf@billingsmt.gov
Roy Neese: (406) 794-3318 Neeser@billingsmt.gov
Ward 3
Danny Choriki: (406) 748-6116 chorikid@billingsmt.gov *opponent
Denise Joy: 406-647-0337 joyd@billingsmt.gov
Ward 4
Pam Purinton: (406) 656-9495 purintonp@billingsmt.gov *opponent
Penny Ronning: 406-579-9778 ronningp@billingsmt.gov *proponent
Ward 5
Mike Boyett: (406) 694-2436 boyettm@billingsmt.gov
Shaun Brown: (406) 698-2328 browns@billingsmt.gov
Billings Ordinance Update
Things are not quite as rosy with the Billings ordinance. The city council, despite therapists’ best efforts, decided to move forward with the ordinance, but referred it to a committee composed of 2 proponents and 2 opponents to hammer out the details. The public was invited to provide comment to the 4.
If you remember from the previous updates/alerts, the BLMTB opposes establishment licensing because it makes us responsible for the problem, sexualizes massage therapy, and undermines all the work we’ve done over the years to be respected as a health care profession. We’ve seen an uptick in callers looking for sex and the jokes and innuendoes have drastically increased. On top of this, proponents are telling us that the ordinance is not targeted at us – one blatantly said that we didn’t need to follow the law. But that’s not how laws work – you can’t tell one group that they have to follow the law and another that they don’t. Besides, it’s unprofessional conduct for an LMT not to follow the law.
Susan Carlson, BLMTB Board member, and Deb hosted a virtual meeting to determine and develop next steps. Out of this emerged a local task force of several Billings therapists with a plan to move forward. This group has put forward an alternate ordinance that actually targets the problem. Instead of telling us not to behave like bad actors, the alternate ordinance tells the bad actors not to pretend to be like us.
The alternate ordinance penalizes businesses that should be classified as a sexually oriented business for misclassifying themselves as another type of business. This will keep the brothels disguised as massage businesses (BDAMBs) from hiding out as massage businesses, nail salons, or modeling studios, just to name a few. They should be classified as sexually oriented businesses, not because there’s sex there, but because there’s nudity, scanty clothes, and other sexualized behaviors going on there. Sex acts on clients (prostitution) remains illegal even in sexually oriented businesses.
We’re asking the city to take a different focus. These illicit businesses are pretending to be something that they are not. Instead of focusing on the business they are pretending to be with establishment licensing, why not actually get at the root of the problem? We’re asking them to stop victimizing legally practicing therapists with burdensome provisions that further entrenches the idea that sex and massage are related. It is time that we break that cycle and develop laws that target the law breakers, not the profession – the legal practice of massage therapy.
Second anti-trafficking measure becomes law
Proposal to re-write massage establishment licensing
No happy ending for Billings’ illicit massage parlors
Licensing ordinance won’t rid Billings of prostitution
In Billings’ battle against sex trafficking, advocates look to massage parlor landlords for help
Billings Myths: Busting the Myth Busters
The link to the video prepared by massage therapists in response to the Billings Ordinance:
https://blmtb.org/news/
