As an opera singer, Amanda Neatrour came to Pittsburgh to hone her craft with a voice teacher, but she stayed because she fell in love with the city.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Baltimore, Neatrour admits that, with the exception of a cousin located in the South Hills, she doesn’t have much in the way of extended family in the Steel City. However, she explains that although Pittsburgh is a five-hour drive from the Monumental City, what makes Sheraden feel like home is that the neighbors know and care for each other. It’s that commitment to community, Neatrour tells Pittsburgh City Paper, that would serve her and her constituents well as a Pittsburgh City Councilmember should she be elected to represent District 2.
“City Council, I feel, is such a consequential position [because] it has the most direct impact on the day-to-day living of the residents in Pittsburgh, I feel, even more so than the mayor. Because while the mayor oversees city operations, you’re responsible for your district,” Neatrour tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “What seems like the most minute or mundane things to people looking at the bigger picture are so important to that person in real time.”
Whether it’s borrowing red wine vinegar from a neighbor or leaving flowers as a thank-you for an unprompted Easter basket left for her family, Neatrour says she understands the importance of giving back to a community as much as you receive from it. Yet, as someone whose career has revolved around the premise of equity, Neatrour explains that she’s well-positioned to advocate for her neighbors’ access to the opportunities they deserve.
Looking back at her life as an opera singer — although people might not immediately expect the two worlds to collide — Neatrour observes that equity plays a large role in which projects get arts funding and which composers get their work highlighted. Over the years, whether it was joining anti-war protests as a student at Howard University, volunteering as a member of the Lawrenceville Land Trust committee, or serving as the city’s Diversity and Inclusion Employment Coordinator, and, later, chair of Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commission under former Mayor Bill Peduto, Neatrour says she’s always tried to put her expertise where her values are.
“Whether I’m a musician, an artist, a mom, business owner, [or] an activist, everything I’ve ever done has been about recognizing when people are being stopped from living their lives and just being affirmed in who they are and supported in who they are,” Neatrour says. “When I recognized that I had the ability or the opportunity to do something about it, I always took it. For me, running for office ended up just being another opportunity for me to speak up and make changes institutionally and systemically in a very real way that is actually representative of how I’ve always shown up for myself and for my family and for my community.”
While she’s no stranger to city government, Neatrour admits that she never imagined running for office. However, when she realized that the District 2 seat would soon be vacant with Pittsburgh City Councilor Theresa Kail-Smith’s pending departure, she decided that her city government experience, combined with her understanding of the budget process, the legislative process, and the needs of the residents of District 2 could position her to do a lot of good for her neighbors.
Not that the process has been without its hiccups.
In January, after launching her campaign, Neatrour felt confident she was off to a strong start, until she and fellow Democrat David Binkoski found themselves facing a legal challenge filed by Allegheny County Democratic Committeewoman Ginny Kropf. In Neatrour’s case, the challenge alleged that her petition to be added to the ballot lacked the required number of valid signatures. In the end, a judge ruled that 98 of the signatures were valid, but being unable to afford to defend the final two signatures in court, Neatrour’s campaign fell short of the 100 required signatures to remain on the ballot.
Now, Neatrour is running as a write-in candidate, no less committed to the district, but admittedly frustrated with what led to her removal from the ballot.
“This is, unfortunately, a very well-known political tactic, and its purpose is to get rid of your challengers, but it also causes a campaign to lose time and money that should have been spent campaigning. I mean, it was legal, but it’s also very tacky,” Neatrour says. “But you know, that’s an opinion, I guess.”
In the aftermath of being removed from the ballot, Neatrour recalls a meet-and-greet with voters that was scheduled the day following the court decision. At first, in the absence of being on the ballot, Neatrour says she was feeling disheartened about her chances and explained to the attendees that her campaign would be a significantly harder road. She was met with requests not to drop out of the race.
“I said, ‘This will literally have to be like a movement of the community to work.’ They didn’t even blink. They said, ‘Listen, we will help you do this.’ And that is actually why I decided to run as a write-in candidate,” Neatrour says. “A community has had to have gone through something for a grown man older than me to say to me, ‘don’t give up on us.’”
Now, Neatrour counts former opponent Binkoski among her supporters and still has high hopes for District 2. When thinking of priorities in her district, Neatrour says she’d like to propose a holistic approach to public safety that includes increasing the number of public safety officers and social workers, and ensuring they have the appropriate resources, while continuing to invest in the area’s infrastructure. Most of all, Neatrour promises a willingness to collaborate and work to ensure a positive outcome for District 2 residents.
“My integrity is more important to me than any race. It’s more important to me than any position. Being a mom that my boys can be proud of and being a person that I can be proud of is important to me … and I will bring that same integrity to work every single day in City Hall, and I will demand the same of anyone I interact with,” Neatrour says. “I am a person who is not afraid to say what needs to be said, to ask the difficult questions [because] doing right by the residents of District 2 is more important to me than scoring political points. And I will work with anyone to make sure that the residents have what they need.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled “Sheraden.” The error has been fixed above.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2025 and Election Guide (Early 2025).
