Concerning a Council Use Permit for Angel Tattoo

Remarks delivered to Mesa City Council by Judy Morning in reference to the Council Use Permit vote for a tattoo parlour in Mesa; more info here at the EV Trib

I don't live in the immediate neighborhood where the Angel Tattoo shop wants to open, but I am a west Mesa resident.

It seems that the Dobson Ranch Homeowners Association, and this city's Planning and Zoning Board have an outdated idea of what tattoo shops are. The shops have been compared to PayDay loan stores, check-cashing businesses and plasma centers.

Tattoo shops are not in the same category as PayDay Loan stores. PayDay loans prey on people's vulnerabilities, and exploit those people. Tattoo shops are places where people go to do something creative with their bodies. It is an artform with a long, rich worldwide history. Tattoo artists are just that: artists.

Part of the problem now is that some folks in the neighborhood seem to have little knowledge as to what has happened in tattoo culture over the past 20 or so years.They seem to still think of tattooing as something dark and dirty that happens in back rooms.

Tattooing changed over the years. It is considered a viable art form. Rich and famous people sport tattoos. Your suburban daughter has a tattoo. Her friend's father has a tattoo.

When was the last time you were in a tattoo shop? There is an aesthetic around them certainly, but it has changed over the years. Tattoo shops now, more often than not, pride themselves on being clean, hip and trendy.

Tattoo shops are now mainstream culture, not seedy back alley places. Christian Aguilera is tattooed, soccer star David Beckham, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, and even Sir Sean Connery have tattoos.

Get rid of the PayDay loans, get more creative shops in like this one, bring in more good restaurants, and have the light rail come to downtown. Maybe Mesa will be a place where people from Phoenix go for weekend shopping one day.

Please update your thinking about tattooing and tattoo shops. Most shops have tried hard to shake the old image of "seedy tattoo parlor" and create a new, clean, upscale image for the art.

I hope the Dobson Ranch Homeowners Association reconsiders the conclusion, and that this Council approves Angel Tattoo shop's permit. "