Councillor Strezzo leads approval of free menstrual-product dispensers and resolution calling to end 'period poverty'

Somerville City Council on Jan. 22 approved three related resolutions asking the Director of Health and Human Services to install free menstrual-product dispensers in city-owned restrooms and adopting a citywide call to end "period poverty." Councillor Strezzo sponsored the measures and the Somerville Commission for Women spoke in support.

The resolutions (items 4.3, 4.4 and 4.7) were read by the clerk and taken together after Councillor Strezzo said City Hall lacked any menstrual-product dispensers. "City hall does not have a single menstrual product dispenser in any of the bathrooms," Strezzo said, calling for products to be "as free as using paper towels in the bathroom and budgeted as such." The council approved the items with no recorded objection and ordered copies sent to the Public Health and Public Safety committee.

Members of the Somerville Commission for Women urged the council to act. "Fifty percent of people in Somerville do menstruate and every single person who menstruates should have access to period products," Alexandra Barbat, a co-commissioner, told the council. Caitlin Firth, co-chair of the commission, said the commission voted unanimously to support the resolution. Volunteer Molly Lemon described the group's plans to lead outreach and said commissioners will present a fuller implementation plan in February.

Supporters framed the resolutions as both a public-health and equity measure at a time of rising costs of living. Councillor Strezzo said the goal is immediate budget allocation from the administration so dispensers can be installed promptly and maintenance funded as part of restroom supplies.

The council took the action by general consent after the clerk read the items into the record; no roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript. The resolutions call for installation of dispensers providing free menstrual products in city-owned bathrooms and, for the City Hall-specific order, on each floor of City Hall. The council also approved a companion resolution calling for an end to barriers that make it difficult for residents to afford menstrual products in Somerville.

The next procedural step, according to council comments, is staff follow-up from Public Health and Public Safety and a fuller presentation by the Commission for Women planned for February.

Provenance: The resolutions were read beginning when the clerk introduced the items (clerk reading at SEG 098) and proponents spoke in the public testimony and council discussion through SEG 257.