EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County Council approved a measure Thursday that will make free menstrual hygiene projects available in county-run buildings and parks.
The ordinance, adopted in a 5-4 vote, requires menstrual pads and tampons be “openly accessible to all users,” along with soap and toilet paper in all county restrooms equipped with running water.
County Director of Administration Nicole Pietrzak originally planned to install dispensers in women’s and gender-neutral restrooms — 69 in all. However, the measure also requires pads and tampons in about 35 more men’s rest rooms.Northampton County Council
Ensuring access to pads and tampons is an issue of hygiene, dignity and equal rights, said Commissioner Kelly Keegan, who co-authored the measure with Commissioner Jeff Warren.
“All public bathrooms should provide for all bodily functions, not just the two that women have in common with men,” Keegan said.
“No one is expected to bring their own toilet paper to a public bathroom.”
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said he intends to sign the measure into law and include funding for the initiative in his proposed 2025 budget.
Period products probably will arrive in county restrooms starting in January, he said.
When analyzing the proposal, county Director of Administration Nicole Pietrzak originally planned to install dispensers in women’s and gender-neutral restrooms — 69 in all.
The initial cost was roughly $30,000, plus an additional $16,000 per year to keep them stocked.
However, the measure also requires pads and tampons in about 35 more men’s restrooms, increasing costs compared with Pietrzak’s estimates.
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A proposed amendment from Commissioner John Goffredo narrowing the ordinance to require period products only in women’s and gender-neutral restrooms failed 5-4.
“I believe all people have a right to access to products in whatever bathroom,” Council President Lori Vargo Heffner said.
“Now, that doesn't mean men need tampons, per se, but I believe that sanitary products should be also available in men's rooms.”
It “seems pretty ridiculous to put tampon dispensers in men’s rooms.”Northampton County Commissioner John Goffredo
Pads and tampons can be useful for more than menstruation, she said, especially for older adults.
Goffredo, who ultimately voted against the ordinance along with councilmen Jeffrey Corpora, Tom Giovanni and John Brown, said it “seems pretty ridiculous to put tampon dispensers in men’s rooms.”
Brown criticized the move to create the initiative through an ordinance, rather than working with McClure to bring it about through executive action or by passing a resolution.
“In practice, when we've done a resolution and asked for things, it hasn't always happened,” Vargo Heffner replied.
Heffner argued that the legally binding force of an ordinance may be needed to get the project underway.
