Santa Rosa officials talk progress, next steps for investigation into possibly illicit massage businesses

Eight local massage businesses are under investigation by city officials, who are responding to a rising concern they are operating without proper certifications.|

How to get help

These local, state and national contacts are available to help with various crises:

• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 888 (call or text)

• inRESPONSE mobile mental health support team responding to mental health crises in Santa Rosa: 707-575-HELP (4357)

• Family Justice Center of Sonoma County: 707-565-8255

• Verity, Sonoma County’s rape crisis, trauma, and healing center: 24-hour crisis line 707-545-7273

• National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673 or online.rainn.org

• National Alliance on Mental Illness/Sonoma County, provides support groups and resources for families and individuals affected by mental health challenges: 866-960-6264

• 24-hour Emergency Mental Health Unit: 800-746-8181

• Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists: recamft.org

Resources also are available for those who have lost someone to suicide:

• Youth Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group for ages 14-24, meets virtually second and fourth Tuesday every month, 4:30-5:30 p.m. by Buckelew Programs and the Felton Institute. Register and get the Zoom link at bit.ly/4atSS6x.

• SOS: Survivors of Suicide bereavement support group for adults 25 and older by Buckelew Programs, meets virtually the second and fourth Wednesday every month, 7-8:30 p.m. For the Zoom link, call/email 415-444-6000 or SOSinfo@Buckelew.org.

• Sutter VNA & Hospice offers several support groups, including those for survivors of suicide, children who have experienced a loss and parents who have lost a child. Call 707-535-5780 for more information.

Eight massage businesses in Santa Rosa are under investigation by Code Enforcement officials, who are responding to a rising concern that the businesses are operating without the proper certifications.

Suspicions were confirmed during a set of investigations in February. At one business, no single employee had personal certifications required by the city to perform massages.

In another, the certificate posted within the business — issued by the California Massage Therapy Council — appeared to be not an original copy, and the name on the certificate did not match any worker in the business.

This progress in the investigation so far was laid out at a public safety meeting last month, where council members, police and code enforcement officers met at Santa Rosa City Council Chambers.

“Just like any of our cases, whether it be massage businesses or whether it be work without a permit at a residential property or anything that we do, we offer due process,” said Senior Code Enforcement Officer Daniela DeBaca in an interview with The Press Democrat following the meeting. “That's very important.”

DeBaca would not provide other examples of violations to not compromise the current investigations.

But in cases where massage therapists within a business have improper certification, say a copy instead of an original as required, she said it could be that the business owners replicated or falsified a license — or it could be a simple lack of knowledge that a photocopy isn’t acceptable.

“We can't make any assumptions,” DeBaca said. “That's part of the investigation.”

DeBaca presented at the April 23 meeting, which was spurred by recent community concern that a rise in massage businesses may be hubs for illicit activity and potential human trafficking.

She emphasized both in the meeting and to Press Democrat reporters that while the department has issued notices of violation, “that's the very, very beginning of an investigation.”

After receiving a notice of violation, the business or property owner is given a grace period to correct the issue — sometimes days, weeks or months depending on the case.

In the meantime, operations are supposed to stop, and compliance officers can drop by unexpectedly to check for cooperation.

Code enforcement officers have stopped by all of the eight cited businesses about three times since they received their initial violation, DeBaca said April 23.

During that meeting, about 30 people crowded to hear Santa Rosa city officials discuss their ongoing investigations and what comes next.

How code enforcement proceeds

Code enforcement moves to a series of citations if communication drops off, problems aren’t fixed or deadlines are blown. From there, officials have a range of options, like administrative hearings, cease and desist notices and receivership, among others.

In the case of the massage businesses, “it's not the time to determine whether a cease- and-desist notice or any other action is necessarily required,” said Lou Kirk, Code Enforcement’s assistant chief building official.

“We have to give them an opportunity to comply,” he added. “Oftentimes the party we're dealing with dictates what direction the case goes. If they're cooperative and they do everything we asked, then the problem is solved and we close the case.

“If they don't comply, we go through our tools until we find the one that works. It would be premature to shutdown a business at this point. We haven't even collected all the evidence yet.”

DeBaca said there has been compliance of varying degrees with each of the businesses in question so far. One case has already been closed, but she would not say whether that meant the business closed permanently or fixed their violations.

Ultimately, however, it's not up to code enforcement to determine whether illicit activity is occurring at these businesses, DeBaca said. That is for the police to determine.

Patricia Seffens, spokesperson for the Santa Rosa Police Department, said that while police are present to support Code Enforcement during investigations, their presence does not mean law enforcement has their own investigation in progress.

“If (officers) observe anything that requires further criminal investigation — evidence of human trafficking — then at that point, based on the observations of the officers there, then an investigation would open,” Seffens said.

Officers, in partnership with Verity — Sonoma County’s only rape crisis and healing center — will ask workers questions about their job, ability to leave and whether they feel safe.

Police also look for visual indicators of illicit activity or human trafficking, such as having living areas at the business and the clothing and appearance of the workers, Santa Rosa Police Department Sgt. Hector De Leon said.

Seffens said police may conduct undercover operations in the future, but they would not release details so as not to tip off business owners.

At the April meeting, Santa Rosa police Capt. Dan Marincik said the department previously would send undercover police into the establishments. If they were offered sexual acts in exchange for money, they would arrest those making the offer or issue a citation.

This proved ineffective.

“Oftentimes these workers would be arrested and be booked in jail or they would receive a citation, but an additional worker would take their place,” Marincik said, adding that the efforts were not successful at getting the illicit businesses themselves to stop.

“There’s a lot of victims of human trafficking that get caught up in this,” he added. “One of the last things we wanted to do on the police department's end was arrest these people who themselves might be victims of human trafficking and then put them in the criminal justice system.”

During the meeting, a woman who identified as Asian American, spoke about the importance of making sure these investigations are culturally competent, specifically regarding Asian cultures because Asian women are often targets of human trafficking.

“There is a need for language support and cultural support,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation from the possibly illicit businesses. “I would like to help out, if I can, but I need to understand what are the risks involved.”

A Verity employee explained the language line during an unofficial, resident-organized meeting Feb. 14 at the Central Santa Rosa Library attended by about 50 people worried about the rising presence of these possibly illicit businesses in their neighborhoods. The employee said the organization sometimes uses the language line — where an interpreter speaks over the phone — when they do not have in-person interpreter for a specific language.

While this line can help, it eliminates the possibility for the person translating to assess the situation in person.

The woman also said at the public safety meeting she appreciated that officials are working to combat the illicit businesses, but she was afraid the effort could result in backlash against the Asian community, specifically those who own or work in massage businesses.

She said she doesn’t want another violent event, such as the March 2021 fatal shooting in Atlantawhere a man killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent, in three spas.

The effort to examine the Santa Rosa massage businesses activity appears to be gaining traction from different city groups, and is supported by the City Manager’s Office.

Santa Rosa City Manager Maraskeshia Smith said during the April public safety meeting that she would consider allocating money in the budget to address the possible issues at these businesses.

“It would be a priority,” Smith said during the meeting. “We want to make certain that we are addressing quality-of-life issues.”

In an interview with The Press Democrat following the community meeting, Smith said she met with Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan and Gabe Osburn, the city’s director of planning and economic development, to see if there were needs for additional funding at this time.

“Right now they said they have what they need to move things forward,” Smith said. “We did hear the community; they want us to step it up a little bit. But even with Code Enforcement, there's still a process that has to take place.”

But the conversation is ongoing, Smith said, and she would be willing to discuss additional funding if the departments involved in the investigations requested it.

And when, or if, the city decides to rewrite the ordinance that governs the massage businesses in Santa Rosa, that process to write and pass the new ordinance through the proper city channels could take three to five months, she said.

“We hear the community's concerns,“ Smith said. ”And when they bring it to our attention, we want to make certain we figure out what to do to solve it.“

Let us know

If you have information to share — whether as a worker, massage therapist or member of the public — reach out to reporters Marisa Endicott (marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5470), Madison Smalstig (madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com) or Adriana Gutierrez (adriana.gutierrez@pressdemocrat.com).

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.

Report For America corps member Adriana Gutierrez covers education and child welfare issues for The Press Democrat. You can reach her at Adriana.Gutierrez@pressdemocrat.com.

You can reach “In Your Corner” Columnist Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.