Rudiak reflects on her years on council

leader on women’s rights and gender equity who upheld “very strict fiscal disciplinewith city council.”

Her successor in District 4, Anthony Coghill, wasn’t soflattering. He ran last year on a “Back to Basics” platform targeting litter, infrastructureand paving, in part because he felt Ms. Rudiak’s office “wasn’t taking care of thebasic needs.”

“I would say our style is different because I feel like Natalia was more about the big picture, meaning more national issues,” said Mr. Coghill, who took office this month. He defeated Ms. Rudiak’s chief of staff, Ashleigh Deemer, in the Democratic primary last May and Republican Cletus CibroneAbate in the November generalelection.

Ms. Rudiak, who declined to seek a third four-year term, rejected the criticism. She dubbed Mr. Coghill “not the most informed person,” noting the city has fallen under state budgetary oversightfor more than a decade.

“I’ll be the first to say many of our services have been understaffed and underfunded,” Ms. Rudiak said. “I think every council person and every department is doing the best with theresources that we have.”

Sheannounced in December 2016 that she would not run again, saying she wanted time to rebuild some family bonds. Last week, she saidthe deterioration of public discourse played a part, too. Sexist comments on social media targeted both her andher staff.

“Ithink it poisons the well for a lot of well-meaning people who want to get into politics,” Ms. Rudiak said. “It’s a lotto bear.”

She’s still figuring out her next steps, although she wants to remain in what she called “the helping sector.” She’s also helping lead Women for the Future Pittsburgh, a political action committee aimed at helping progressive women run for office in Western Pennsylvania.

Back at city hall, council may soon have four women again. Two of three candidates to fill the District 8 seat in a March 6 special election are women. Dan Gilman vacated the slot this month when he joined Mr. Peduto’s administration as chief of staff.

As the Women’s Caucus illustrated how to reach agreements, Mrs. KailSmith said, Ms. Rudiak displayed a human side to city council.

“I think she showed something that was rare: vulnerability and intelligence at the same time,” Mrs.Kail-Smith said.