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The California Gold Rush
My morning mail arrived with a packet sent by an anonymous contributor…copies of emails and correspondence concerning the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC). I must say it caused me to choke on my breakfast.
The CAMTC, according to their website, is currently conducting a search for a CEO. That’s not shocking news. What is shocking news is the insistence of former Board chair Ahmos Netanel, who is said to be gunning for the position, that the job is worth $348,000 a year, and that it should come with an executive assistant to the tune of another $144,000. Is there another Gold Rush in California that the rest of us haven’t heard about?
Let’s put that in perspective: The governor of California gets paid $206,500 a year. The President of the United States makes $400,000 a year. An e-mail from Netanel states “…for the kind of skill set and record we are looking for, anything less than $29,000 per month would represent a major cut in pay for the kind of CEO we need."
I personally think that’s over the top. I know hundreds of hard-working massage therapists who don’t make $29,000 a year. Can you say “non-profit?” It really looks like somebody is going to profit, and in a major way.
I believe there are former CEOs all over the country with great skill sets, knowledge, and expertise who are out of work, who’d take the job for half of that and be glad to have it. Is the head of a state massage association really worth more than the governor? I hope the Board members at the CAMTC will wake up and smell the coffee. It smells a little burnt from where I’m sitting.
Peace & Prosperity,
Laura Allen
Views: 722
Comment
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Comment by Maya Feldman on February 10, 2010 at 9:06pm
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My goodness! It's taken this long for us to even become State Licensed and now we have some arrogant man making our profession look like "The Harlot" we've worked so hard to prove we are not. This man is full of greed with every wrong selfish intention! Shame on him.
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Comment by Emmanuel Bistas on February 10, 2010 at 7:46pm
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Many massage therapists are already resentful of seeing their non-for-profits, which they support with their (sometimes limited) income, pay out outrageous salaries and perks to select individuals who then move on to other organizations and repeat.
I think the CEO of CAMTC should have massage therapists' trust and respect, and be able to align them behind the Massage Therapy Council - especially in light of these difficult times!
It doesn't sound like the salary has been decided, but I would think that an outrageous salary will add to the resentment massage therapists feel towards their organizations, and that would not be good for the profession.
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Comment by Keith Eric Grant on February 10, 2010 at 3:36pm
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Erica,
Yes, although pretty much on hold at the moment. Scottish Country Dancing, Scandinavian couple dances (regional turning dances), and some Israeli line dances as well as a bit of ballroom. Had to come up with something to balance all the physics and being a political pain in the glutes in the massage world. Dancing is a good way to learn to move with others, which influences many aspects of life, including massage practice.
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Laura,
An update from the CEO search committee is on the agenda for tomorrow. I would view this as far less than "the vote is tomorrow". The CAMTC BOD, by stipulation of the enabling law, falls under the state's Bagley-Keene open meeting act. Thus, a quorum of the BOD cannot discuss an item by any means outside of a published agenda and formal meeting.
I also want to comment that the CEO's role in the coming year will be a critical one. California has charter cities under provisions of the state constitution. Despite a preliminary opinion from legislative counsel to the contrary, several charter cities are resisting the exemptions from local offered by CAMTC certification. A draft bill has actually been submitted to legislative counsel by the CA Police Chiefs Association that would return regulation to local agencies (killing CAMTC) in 2016. CAMTC is, in multiple ways, trying to negotiate with cities and convince them that it is to their benefit to cooperate with CAMTC and to avoid legislative and legal challenges. These challenges are added to the fact that initial planning estimated 3600 applications in 2009 and receipt of over 11,000 applications. All of this is also occurring in the context of California having let lapse its entire approval process for private postsecondary schools since July 2007. A new agency (BPPE) has come into being in January, but it will take some spin-up time and occurs with CA state finances in shambles (i.e. there are no guarantees about sufficient staff). Thus the responsibility to evaluate whether training transcripts are worth more than the paper they are printed upon has also fallen on the shoulders of CAMTC.
A CEO will have considerable impact both on ensuring that CAMTC administrative tasks are coordinated and in the day-to-day efforts to ensure the continuation of the availability of statewide regulation. Thus the responsibilities and challenges are far greater, at least for a couple of years, than would be faced by the CEOs of established massage boards. CAMTC has "benefited" from the Chinese curse of being created in "interesting" times. Our long-term survival may well depend on the skills of the CEO.
I'll also comment that I have not, at least in what I have seen, encountered any chronic patterns of unethical behavior. The bigger problem has been a tendency toward tangential discussion or going beyond necessary detail that can rapidly chew up limited meeting time. That said, by the very way in which the law stipulates that BOD members are chosen and seated, everyone on the board has other stakes in the profession as well as their BOD responsibilities. I have seen actions that I might not agree with, but I have not seen any BOD actions blatant in their self-interest and contrary to public interest. I obviously can't comment on private communications which I haven't seen nor do I read minds. But I do feel that BOD actions have been reasonable expressions of operating for benefit of the public and profession in the face of some notable challenges. I know that the BOD has relied heavily on our legal counsel for many discussions on denial or disciplinary actions. I also know that some BOD members have spent far more than reasonable unpaid time in their efforts to get this working, Netanel among them.
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Comment by Erica Olson on February 10, 2010 at 2:47pm
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Keith--folk dancing? How fantastic! You grow more awesome by the minute. :D
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Comment by Laura Allen on February 10, 2010 at 1:55pm
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Hi Keith,
I am so glad you weighed in on this. I do want to say that I had that directly from one of Netanel's emails that was passed along to me, so I don't think there is any denying he was pushing for it.
I didn't print a third of what I received because a good bit of it wasn't fit for public consumption, and I will not leave myself open to a liable charge, but there were also numerous other accusations of unethical behavior made as well. I understand the vote is tomorrow, so I would appreciate you letting us know how that turns out.
For those who don't know, Keith Eric Grant has been blogging about the politics of massage way before I got started.
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Comment by christy greene on February 10, 2010 at 1:28pm
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absolutely ridiculous!
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Laura,
I'm happy to see you keeping an eye on California because decisions by CAMTC do affect many people and I place a value on transparency. I, for one, believe that it is accountability that restrains one from walking into areas of fiscal responsibility that are indicated by your recent reviews of the NCBTMB Form 990. I am well aware that CAMTC will have it's own FORM 990 for review in future years. Independent of any beliefs that Ahmos Netanel may or may not have, CAMTC is accountable both to the profession via reviews such as you do and via periodic review by the legislature. My own feeling is that the legislature, and in particular the Business and Professions committees of both the Senate and Assembly, will expect to see salaries commensurate with those of state board CEOs. I do wish to clarify that compensation actually discussed by the BOD in recent meetings was on the order of $120k to $150k depending on applicant qualifications and experience. Hopefully, CAMTC will, in the long run, be judged on the actual actions of the board rather than on an individuals initial opinion. While I am a member of the CAMTC BOD, these are my own observations and not an official CAMTC statement.
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Since I have paid the CAMTC and have a CMT license given to me by them...I am just disgusted. The CAMTC is connected to the California government, but not run by it so one would hope that it would not be run like our fatted calf government.
But there other part of me, the part that was a manger in corporate America for 10 years, is the truly disgusted part. I worked in a boutique law firm and PR firm and for Deloitte Consulting in Chicago so any argument for cost of living does not work for me. An executive assistant for $144K a year...who are you kidding. Yes I left corp over 3 years ago, but the reality is salaries have gone down. The friends I have who are still in those business a lot of them have taken salary cuts. I know at least two very qualified Exec assistants with college degrees who would work for half that salary...of which one lives in LA. The CEO position at $350K a year..really..not a typo...the CAMTC cannot be someone's "golden eeg" to feather their their nest with and expect the CAMTC to survive such hypocrisy.
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Comment by Frank J on February 10, 2010 at 12:28pm
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I think that is insanely crazy. I know CEO's make a lot of money but a CEO of a council of massage therapists that is crazy. that must have been an early april fool joke
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