AMANDA NEATROUR OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED HER CAMPAIGN FOR PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2, WHICH ENCOMPASSES MOST OF THE WEST END NEIGHBORHOODS, AT THE WIN CHAR COMMUNITY CENTER, JAN. 13. (PHOTO BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
Sheraden resident wants to represent District 2
If Amanda Neatrour becomes a member of Pittsburgh City Council, it’s safe to say she’ll be the best vocalist on the nine-member council.
But that’s the furthest thing from her mind.
Neatrour, who is professionally trained in classical voice performance and opera, and holds two degrees from Howard University in those fields, announced her candidacy for Pittsburgh City Council’s District 2 on Monday, Jan. 13.
And in announcing her candidacy, there was no singing—just a firm, authoritative voice Neatrour used as she proclaimed that she’s the right person to help lead the West End into future prosperity.
Neatrour, 43, a Black woman who lives in Sheraden, told supporters at the Win Char Community Center that when there are issues in her community, such as drivers racing through neighborhood streets, vacant, blighted properties, or the lack of activities for children in the community, she contacts the city. She attends meetings. She makes her voice heard. But most of the time, nothing gets done. Nothing changes.
“The path chose me,” Neatrour said, as she announced her campaign to become an official public servant. “Last time I checked, and because of the positions I’ve had, I know about the racism in City Hall, I know about the gender-based discrimination in City Hall…I know why we pay some people one way, and why we pay other people differently…and that’s not right.”
Neatrour added: “I am here not because I want to take it on; I don’t see that I have a choice. Because my grandma taught me, to whom much is given,” and the audience finished, “much is required.”
AMANDA NEATROUR, A CANDIDATE FOR PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2, IN BLUE, IS SURROUNDED BY SUPPORTERS AT HER KICKOFF CAMPAIGN EVENT, JAN. 13. (PHOTO BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
Neatrour is no stranger to the City-County Building or the Black community, especially on the West End. A 2019 New Pittsburgh Courier “Woman of Excellence,” Neatrour was employed by the City of Pittsburgh from 2013-2017, in positions such as executive assistant to the chief diversity and inclusion officer, the (former mayor Bill) Peduto Administration, and served as diversity and inclusion coordinator in the human resources department.
From 2017 until 2021, Neatrour worked at Robert Morris University, eventually becoming the program director of the women’s leadership and mentorship program, as well as director of the center for equity and professional development.
FORMER PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCILMEMBER NATALIA RUDIAK PUTS A CITY OF PITTSBURGH LAPEL PIN ON CANDIDATE AMANDA NEATROUR.
Married to Russell Neatrour and the mother to two children, Amanda Neatrour told the assembled crowd on Jan. 13 that she’s been in “spaces and in rooms and at tables that other people who look like me, who have my experiences, don’t ever get to be in, and with that comes a responsibility. It is ugly, and I am taking on a system and a machine that does not want to change.”
District 2, which encompasses the West End, Elliott, Banksville, Duquesne Heights and Mt. Washington, as well as Brunot Island and a portion of the North Side along the Ohio River, is seeing its longtime councilwoman, Theresa Kail-Smith, retire at the end of her term, which ends this year. Pittsburgh and City Council are used to Kail-Smith being a tough-minded individual who has no problem going her own way in thoughts and in votes. That means the District 2 representative, the next one, might want to have that same gravitas.
Late last year, Neatrour was canvassing, knocking on doors on the other side of town to garner support for Democrats Bob Casey, Kamala Harris and Eugene DePasquale. One of those doors she knocked on was a Black elected official, whose name she kept to herself. He asked her, “Are you running?” She responded: “Well, I’m a mom, I’m a caregiver to my mother, I’ve got a business.”
The elected official then said: “If you’ve got time to door knock for other people, you’ve got time to run for office.”
AMANDA NEATROUR
The elected official added that “we need more young, Black people who are intelligent, who understand how it works, who have passion, who have energy. I expect to see your name on the ballot come May.”
Neatrour obviously took those words to heart. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was time to officially make it happen.
If she wins the Democratic Primary on May 20, Neatrour would more than likely cruise to a November General Election victory. She said her first priority is to get permanent funding in the city budget for more youth development and programming. “If you’re not supporting your youth, you’re not supporting your community,” she told supporters. “It’s up to us to surround ourselves around them and give them what they need, and it shouldn’t be dependent on just the goodwill of volunteers or whether or not your councilperson cares.”
Following Neatrour’s 20-minute speech, supporters shook hands, hugged and conversed with whom they hope will be the next City Councilwoman for District 2. Neatrour, the Washington, D.C.-born, Baltimore-raised woman who is the reigning Miss Pennsylvania American, took questions from the audience as well. But Margaret Davis, Neatrour’s neighbor in Sheraden, decided to make a statement instead.
“I’ve known Amanda for seven years,” Davis, also a Black woman, said. “When she sets her mind to do something, she does it and she does it with passion. She is probably the most authentic person I know.”
Davis, knowing all about Neatrour’s vocal skills, added: “She has an amazing voice. She could be singing opera somewhere professionally, and this is what she chooses to do. She chooses to fight for us. She chooses to fight for our community.”
PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE AMANDA NEATROUR SPEAKS WITH SUPPORTERS AT THE WIN CHAR COMMUNITY CENTER, JAN. 13. (PHOTOS BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
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